Civil Servants: Hearing Impaired

David Borrow: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what information her Department holds on the number of employees of each Government department who incurred hearing loss in the course of their duties in each year since 1999.

Angela Smith: The Cabinet Office does not hold this information.

Departmental Security

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many security passes her Department has issued to contractors providing consultancy services in the last 12 months.

Angela Smith: The Cabinet Office takes great care regarding access to its buildings and its access control policies are in line with the HMG Security Policy Framework, Mandatory Requirements 56, 57 and 58
	The Department issues security passes to all those who are visiting and have business on its estate. Non-staff employed by the department (including temporary staff, short-term work placements, contractors and consultants) may be issued with either a temporary pass, an escorted visitor pass or an unescorted visitor pass, depending on the length of time they are working for the Department and their level of security clearance.
	Separately identifying those who may be visiting the department to provide consultancy services from those who are visiting for other reasons could be undertaken only at disproportionate cost.

Freedom of Information

John Hemming: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will bring forward proposals to ensure that public bodies which enter into partnership to provide services are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Michael Wills: I have been asked to reply 
	as the Minister responsible for Freedom of Information policy.
	On 16 July 2009, the Government published the response to their consultation on extending the Freedom of Information Act by means of a section 5 order. It noted that it was not minded to include in an initial order companies providing, under a contract made with a public authority, any service whose provision is a function of that, authority. However, the Government have made clear that they intend to keep the extension of the Act under review.

South East Asia: Tuberculosis

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what contacts his Department has with governments of South East Asia in respect of the delivery of national tuberculosis programmes.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) contributes to tuberculosis (TB) control through a variety of channels including support for National programmes, multi donor initiatives and research.
	In China, DFID has provided £28 million to the National TB Control Programme. This programme has increased national case detection rates from 30 per cent. in 2000 to over 70 per cent. in 2007 in 16 provinces, covering half of China's population. Furthermore 1.8 million patients have successfully been treated and cure rates are now well above 85 per cent.
	DFID will provide £30.1 million by 2011 to the multi-donor funded Three Diseases Fund (3DF) which aims to tackle TB, malaria and HIV/AIDS. The 3DF provides grants to UN agencies and NGOs to support delivery of the National TB Strategy in Burma. DFID is also the donor representative on the Country Coordinating Mechanism which oversees the implementation of the National TB Strategy in Burma.

Afghanistan: Politics and Government

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether  (a) he and  (b) officials in his Department have had discussions with their Afghan counterparts on a national unity government in Afghanistan.

Ivan Lewis: In the run up to and following Afghanistan's 2009 presidential elections, we met with a range of presidential candidates and continue to encourage all parties to work together for the good of Afghanistan. It is not for the UK to dictate to Afghanistan's political leadership the makeup of any future government, or prescribe the degree to which the Afghan government should formally work with its opposition. What is important is that with UK and international community support, the Afghan government and other key Afghan partners reach out across the political spectrum in order to deliver progress on the key issues President Karzai outlined in his inauguration speech: security, governance, peace and reintegration, economic development and regional relations.

Afghanistan: Politics and Government

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Prime Minister's Statement of 30 November 2009,  Official Report, columns 831-6, on Afghanistan and Pakistan, what proposals the Government has brought forward on stronger international civilian leadership in Afghanistan; and when he expects such proposals to be agreed with international partners.

Ivan Lewis: Following President Karzai's inauguration speech on 19 November 2009 and President Obama's statement on 1 December 2009, the international community are reinvigorating their efforts to deliver and co-ordinate coherent and effective support for the Government of Afghanistan and its people. Work is progressing on a number of fronts. NATO foreign Ministers discussed Afghanistan on 3 and 4 December 2009 and a NATO force generation conference on 7 December 2009 focused on increasing the Allied military effort. It is important that this enhanced International Security Assistance Force military effort is matched by a stronger, more-effective civil effort. We are discussing with our international partners how best to achieve this. The London Conference will offer a timely focus to taking forward international agreement on delivering a more coherent civilian effort.

Israel: Prisoners

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of the detention by the Israeli authorities of Mohammed Othman from Jayyous; and whether he has made representations to the government of Israel on the subject.

Ivan Lewis: We are concerned by Mr. Othman's treatment and long detention without charge. Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister of State, Ivan Lewis, raised UK concerns over Othman's case with the deputy Israeli Foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon on 27 October 2009. Our embassy in Tel Aviv, and our consulate-general in Jerusalem, continue to follow his case closely.
	More generally, we continue to monitor the situation with regard to all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. We are very concerned about cases of administrative detention: we call on the Israeli government to take immediate action to ensure that all cases are reviewed by a court in accordance with fair procedures, and that detainees' rights are upheld.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has made representations to the Israeli government on the payment of compensation to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East following the shelling of its compound in Gaza City in January 2009.

Ivan Lewis: The Government were deeply concerned by reports of incidents involving UN property/personnel during the Gaza conflict. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon set up the UN Board of Inquiry to investigate certain incidents involving UN property/personnel during the Gaza Conflict. The Board reported back on 5 May.
	The UN Secretariat are taking this forward-including the issue of compensation-directly with the Israeli Government.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government has made to the Israeli government on the alleged shelling with high explosive and white phosphorus munitions of the United Nations compound in Gaza on 15 January 2009.

Ivan Lewis: Our embassy in Tel Aviv raised concerns over this incident directly with the Israeli Government on the day it took place.
	We have been clear from the beginning of the Gaza conflict that all allegations of breaches of international humanitarian law committed by both sides must be properly investigated.
	UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon set up the UN Board of Inquiry to investigate certain incidents involving UN property/personnel during the Gaza Conflict. The Board reported back on 5 May 2009. The UN Secretariat are now taking this forward with the Israeli Government.

Morocco: Mining

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 6 October 2009,  Official Report, column 228W, on Morocco: mining, what recent steps the Government has taken to seek to ensure that Morocco fulfils its obligations under international law to ensure that the extraction and exploitation of phosphates do not adversely affect the interests of the people of Western Sahara.

Ivan Lewis: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer of my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Bill Rammell) of 23 March 2009,  Official Report, column 32W.
	The UK continues to maintain its position that Morocco, as the de facto administering power of Western Sahara, is obliged under international law to ensure that economic activities under administration-including the extraction and exportation of phosphates-do not adversely affect the interests of the people in Western Sahara.

Morocco: Mining

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Moroccan government on  (a) ending the movement of members of the Moroccan civilian population into the occupied Western Sahara and  (b) the application of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention until the status of Western Sahara is determined.

Ivan Lewis: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer of my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Bill Rammell) of 5 May 2009,  Official  Report, column 47W, Western Sahara: Politics and Government:
	We have not discussed the movement of population between Morocco and Western Sahara, or the application of article 49 of the fourth Geneva convention, and have no current plans to discuss either matter with the Moroccan Government.
	The Government see the status of Western Sahara as undetermined and continue to believe that progress towards a negotiated solution to the dispute, providing for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara, is best achieved under the auspices of the UN. To this end the UK fully supports the efforts of the UN Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy, Christopher Ross.

Proliferation: Nuclear Weapons

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government is taking to prepare for the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Ivan Lewis: The Government have led international efforts to re-energise the consensus underpinning the non-proliferation treaty over the last three years. There are clear indications that the international mood is changing.
	Building on the "Road to 2010" policy document launched by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister in July 2009, and available at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/reports/roadto2010.aspx
	The Government will continue to work hard with nuclear weapon states partners and the great mainstream of the non-aligned movement to build critical momentum and ensure a successful review conference next May.

Sudan: Politics and Government

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with  (a) the Sudanese government and  (b) the UN on the peacekeeping patrols in Darfur being blocked; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: We regularly discuss UN peacekeeping in Darfur with the UN, the Government of Sudan and other parties in Darfur, emphasising the importance of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid operation (UNAMID) in Darfur being able to exercise its full mandate in accordance with the Statement of Forces Agreement. On 30 November 2009 the UN Security Council reiterated its full support for UNAMID and emphasised the need for all parties in Darfur to unconditionally guarantee full access to UNAMID patrols in Darfur. On 12 November 2009 we participated in a demarche setting out to the UN and African Union our strong concern at the Government of Sudan's non-compliance with the Status of Forces Agreement and urging them to take all necessary measures to ensure that Sudan complies with its terms.

USA: Anti-semitism

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received of incidents of anti-Semitism in the US; whether he has had recent discussions with the US administration on that matter; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: I have not received any recent reports of anti-Semitism in the US. For a more detailed explanation of ongoing discussions between the UK and US on the issue of anti-Semitism, I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 3 December 2009, in which I said that we continue to work closely with the US administration and other partners to combat anti-Semitism wherever it occurs.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the answer of 28 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 509-22, on supply estimates, what the equivalent figures are for each estimate type in his Department's Winter Supplementary Estimate for 2009-10.

Bill Rammell: I am placing a copy of the requested information in the Library of the House, which breaks down the MOD's 2009-10 winter supplementary estimate in the same format as we have supplied before.

Rescue Services: Helicopters

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many helicopter callouts of each type from each search and rescue station there were in each of the last 10 years; and how many  (a) day and  (b) night time hours off-station each call out entailed.

Bill Rammell: I am placing data showing the number of helicopter call outs of each type from each search and rescue (SAR) station in each of the last 10 years in the Library of the House.
	Information on the actual daytime and night-time hours off-station for each call out is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Further data on military SAR activities is published by Defence Analytical Services and Advice at the following link;
	http://www.dasa.mod.uk/applications/newWeb/www/index.php?page=66&pubType=0
	All UK SAR helicopter units are able to provide overlapping cover when an adjacent unit is either already committed to a SAR operation or operating at a reduced capability for any reason, or during periods of temporary closure. The provision of adjacent SAR cover is standard practice and occurs routinely when a SAR helicopter is already airborne on a search and rescue sortie or is unserviceable.

Departmental Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what payments the Heritage Lottery Fund has made to  (a) Blue Rubican,  (b) Greenhause Communications and  (c) Strategem in the last 12 months; for what purpose; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contracts under which such payments have been made.

Si�n Simon: The information you have requested is not held centrally and is an operational matter for the Heritage Lottery Fund, who have been unable to provide the information requested to the timescales dictated by parliamentary convention.
	Accordingly, I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member for Ruislip Northwood. Copies of the reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Edelman UK: Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what payments his Department has made to Edelman in the last 12 months; for what purpose; and if he will place in the Library copy of the contract under which such payments have been made.

Si�n Simon: No direct payments have been made to Edelman by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in the last 12 months. However, Edelman were engaged through Central Office of Information to provide brand and event development support to the Creativity and Business International Network.

Fishburn Hedges: Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what payments the Digital Switchover Help Scheme has made to Fishburn Hedges in the last 12 months; for what purpose; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract under which such payments have been made.

Si�n Simon: The BBC is responsible for administering the Digital Switchover Help Scheme.
	Accordingly I have asked the chief executive of the scheme to write to the hon. Member for Ruislip Northwood. Copies of the reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Departmental Contracts

Don Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what criteria his Department uses in determining the award of contracts; and how much his Department has spent on the advertisement of tenders for Government contracts since 1997.

Ann McKechin: Other than minor purchases, the Scotland Office does not undertake discrete procurement or tendering projects. It utilises existing service contracts between suppliers and the Scottish Executive or the Ministry of Justice. These awarding authorities would take the lead in such matters and would determine the criteria for the award of contract. The Office has not incurred any direct spend on the advertisement of tenders.

Weapons: Explosives

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his most recent assessment is of the level of illegally held  (a) weapons and  (b) explosives in Northern Ireland.

Paul Goggins: The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning has worked, and continues to work, to put the armaments of republican and loyalist terrorist groups beyond use. By its nature estimates of illegally held weaponry would be speculative and it is not Government practice to provide information on this basis.

Departmental Electronic Equipment

Nick Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge of 1 September 2009,  Official Report, columns 1815-6W, on departmental electronic equipment, what the purposes were of the purchase of 55 DVD players by his Department's agencies.

Chris Mole: As previously advised the Department for Transport has spent £55 on DVD players.
	The DVD players were purchased by the Highways Agency and the Vehicle Certification Agency. They are used for delivering in-house training with video content, and for test engineers to show short videos of vehicle tests.

Departmental Information Officers

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many full-time equivalent press officers (a) are employed by and (b) work for his Department.

Chris Mole: The number of full-time equivalent staff (FTE) employed on press officer activities on the 1 April 2009 by the Department for Transport both directly and, where identifiable, indirectly is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Staff (FTE) employed on press officer activities 
			   DFT employees  Other workers( 1) 
			 DFT(C) 13 Nil 
			 DSA 62 0 
			 DVLA 5 Nil 
			 GCDA Nil Nil 
			 HA 11 3 
			 MCA 2 Nil 
			 VCA Nil Nil 
			 VOSA 1 1 
			 (1) Other workers include temporary employment agency staff. (2) DSA figure includes fixed term employment 
		
	
	The staff resource deployed by the Central Office of Information in providing their regional News and PR services to parts of the Department can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The Highways Agency (HA) has seven regional press officers to support its new Traffic Officer service and seven regional control centres. These press officers are employed to raise awareness of the Traffic Officers and the agency's role as network operator for England's motorways and major A roads.

Departmental Theft

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many officials of  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies have (i) been reprimanded, (ii) had their contract of employment terminated and (iii) been prosecuted for theft of departmental property in each of the last three years; and what items were stolen in each case.

Chris Mole: The Department for Transport have had no employees that have been reprimanded, had their contract of employment terminated nor been prosecuted for theft of departmental property over the last three years.
	Six out of the seven Department's agencies have also had no employees that have been reprimanded, had their contract of employment terminated nor been prosecuted for theft of department property over the last three years. However, the seventh agency, The Driver Vehicle and Licensing Agency, is unable to provide the information requested as it would involve disproportionate costs.

Driving

Stephen Ladyman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what mechanisms are in place to ensure that staff who drive  (a) a vehicle for which (i) his Department and (ii) one of its executive agencies is responsible have valid driving licences and  (b) their own vehicles in the course of their official duties for (A) his Department and (B) one of its executive agencies have valid driving licences and insurance; what guidance is issued to those staff in respect of road safety while carrying out official duties; what steps are taken to monitor compliance with that guidance; what requirements there are on such staff to report to their line managers accidents in which they are involved while driving in the course of their official duties; and whether such reports are investigated.

Chris Mole: The Department for Transport has a departmental Driving at Work policy that includes the requirement for every driver or rider to hold a valid driving licence. If drivers or riders use their own vehicles they must also have appropriate insurance provision. Further detailed arrangements vary according to the exact business need in each Agency and the central Department.
	All staff who drive or ride on departmental business have their driving licences and insurance provision checked by line management or in the case of DVLA by a dedicated team. Usually this is by visual inspection but in some parts of the Department it is done by self-certification supported by management checks. There are regular reviews of the appropriate documentation that vary between six months to a year or whenever there is a change of circumstances.
	Detailed guidance is available to all staff in respect of road safety while on departmental business and line managers are responsible for monitoring arrangements. Guidance includes practical advice like checking vehicles prior to a journey, planning journeys and the need for regular breaks, using seat belts, not using a mobile phone while driving.
	Staff are required to report all accidents via the internal arrangements in their Agency or the Central Department. Reporting requirements includes accidents while driving in the course of their official duties. All accidents are investigated.

Railways: Standards

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to the answer of 9 November 2009,  Official Report, columns 56-8W, on railways: standards, if he will provide a table showing the number of trains cancelled by each train operating company in each of the last five years given as a percentage of all trains scheduled to run; and if he will provide the same information in respect of peak hour trains in London and the South East.

Chris Mole: holding answer 24 November 2009
	The table requested is as follows, showing the number of trains cancelled by each franchised train operator in each of the last five years as a percentage of all trains scheduled to run. Data is given for the five most recent financial years, including 2009-10 up to October 2009.
	
		
			  Percentage of all scheduled trains cancelled 
			  Percentage 
			  Train operator  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 (to October 2009) 
			 ATW 1.1 0.7 0.5 0.4 0.2 
			 c2c 1.2 1.1 1.1 0.8 0.6 
			 Chiltern 1.4 0.9 0.7 0.7 0.7 
			 CrossCountry 1.6 1.4 1.3 1.2 1.1 
			 East Midlands Trains 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.0 0.7 
			 FCC 1.7 1.6 1.3 1.7 1.3 
			 FGW 1.0 1.5 1.8 0.9 0.6 
			 London Midland 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.9 1.2 
			 London Overground 2.1 1.7 1.8 0.9 0.9 
			 Merseyrail 1.5 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.6 
			 Northern Rail 0.7 1.0 1.1 0.8 0.7 
			 NXEA 1.3 1.6 1.2 1.1 0.9 
			 NXEC 1.3 1.9 2.3 1.4 1.2 
			 Southeastern 1.1 0.9 0.9 1.2 0.6 
			 Southern 1.1 0.9 0.9 1.3 0.7 
			 SWT 0.9 1.0 0.7 1.1 0.4 
			 TPE 1.1 1.0 0.9 1.0 0.5 
			 Virgin Trains 1.0 1.3 0.9 2.5 1.3 
		
	
	The equivalent detail for peak hour trains in London and the South East is as follows:
	
		
			  Percentage of scheduled peak hour trains cancelled 
			  Percentage 
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 (to October 2009) 
			 c2c 1.2 1.2 1.0 0.9 0.5 
			 Chiltern 1.6 1.3 1.0 1.0 0.8 
			 FCC 1.9 1.7 1.4 1.9 1.1 
			 FGW 'Link' Only 1.2 1.6 1.8 1.3 0.7 
			 London Midland 0.5 1.0 0.7 2.4 1.0 
			 London Overground 1.2 1.0 1.1 1.0 0.9 
			 NXEA 1.6 1.9 1.6 1.2 1.1 
			 Southeastern 1.3 1.1 1.1 1.6 0.9 
			 Southern 1.3 1.1 0.9 1.3 0.8 
			 SWT 1.2 0.8 0.8 1.3 0.4

Railways: Tickets

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport on which rail networks Integrated Transport Smartcard Organisation ticket systems are in use.

Chris Mole: South West Trains has an ITSO smartcard pilot in operation between Staines and Windsor and Eton Riverside. Another pilot is planned for the Worcester area shortly on London Midland services. Both are precursors to wider rollouts in future. On 23 November we announced the launch of pay as you go (PAYG) in London from 2 January 2010 which will allow us of Oyster on London rail services.

Council Housing: Sales

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which 10  (a) local authorities and  (b) registered social landlords have sold the largest number of dwellings in the last five years; how many dwellings each sold in that period; and what the monetary value of such dwellings was.

Ian Austin: The following table shows which local authorities have sold the largest number of social homes to sitting tenants over the last five years, the number of properties sold, and the value of these sales:
	
		
			  LA code  LA name  Number of sales (2004-05 to 2008-09)  Market value (£ million) 
			 00DA Leeds 4,270 297.8 
			 00CN Birmingham 4,050 308.5 
			 00BN Manchester 3,950 251.7 
			 00BE Southwark 3,040 383.5 
			 00CG Sheffield 2,890 167.4 
			 00FA Kingston upon Hull 2,340 116.1 
			 00CE Doncaster 2,310 130.5 
			 00BR Salford 2,060 122.6 
			 00CJ Newcastle upon Tyne 1,940 115.3 
			 00FY Nottingham 1,910 131.5 
			  Source: P1B returns to CLG from local authorities 
		
	
	The market value of these properties includes the capital receipts received and the value of any discounts available.
	The following table shows which registered social landlords have sold the largest number of social homes to sitting tenants over the last five years, and the number of properties sold:
	
		
			  RSL code  RSL name  Number of sales (2004-05 to 2008-09) 
			 LH4343 Knowsley Housing Trust 1,550 
			 L3076 Home Group Ltd. 1,020 
			 L0715 Derwent Housing Association Ltd. 1,000 
			 L4441 Wakefield and District Housing Ltd. 940 
			 L4431 Erimus Housing Ltd. 910 
			 L0014 Peabody Trust 820 
			 L0659 Places for People 730 
			 L0037 Riverside Housing 700 
			 LH0250 Liverpool Housing Trust Ltd. 690 
			 L4342 Coast and Country Housing Ltd. 690 
			  Source: Regulatory and Statistical Returns (RSR) to the Tenant Services Authority (TSA) from registered social landlords 
		
	
	The RSR returns do not include details on the monetary value of RSL properties sold to sitting tenants. Details on RSL capital receipts are available from continuous recording (CORE) returns to the TSA, but these exclude sales by smaller RSLs and therefore under-record the number of RSL sales and the capital receipts.
	These figures include all social housing sales to sitting tenants. They do not include sales of new build properties through HomeBuy sales, or sales and transfers between local authorities and RSLs.

Departmental Electronic Equipment

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average purchase price, excluding value added tax, was of a 500 sheet ream of white A4 photocopier paper by his Department in the latest period for which figures are available.

Barbara Follett: As part of its commitment to the Government's sustainable procurement agenda the department uses 100 per cent. recycled A4 80 gsm copier paper at a current average cost of £2.02 for a 500 sheet ream.

Departmental Sick Leave

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many days staff absence as a result of  (a) snow and  (b) other weather conditions were recorded by local authorities in the last 12 months.

Barbara Follett: The information requested is not held centrally.

Empty Property: Greater London

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of empty  (a) residential and  (b) commercial properties in the London borough of (i) Bexley, (ii) Bromley, (iii) Croydon and (iv) Greenwich in the last three years for which figures are available.

Barbara Follett: The number of empty domestic dwellings in the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon and Greenwich in 2007, 2008 and 2009 are shown in the following table. The data include both short-term and long-term empty dwellings.
	
		
			  Number of empty domestic dwellings 
			   2007  2008  2009 
			 Bexley 2,247 2,123 2,059 
			 Bromley 3,537 3,617 3,613 
			 Croydon 4,053 3,599 4,066 
			 Greenwich 3,294 3,404 3,497 
		
	
	The data are taken from the council tax base (CTB) and CTB(Supplementary) forms completed annually in October by all billing authorities in England and returned to Communities and Local Government.
	Details of the number of empty non-domestic hereditaments are not currently available.

Housing: Rural Areas

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he has made an estimate of the number of homes in rural areas which have changed ownership in each year since 1997.

Ian Austin: holding answer 8 December 2009
	 We have assumed that the number of homes in rural areas which have changed ownership is made up of private sector sales and LA and RSL dwellings that have been sold to sitting tenants.
	The estimated number of homes in rural areas which has changed ownership in each year since 1997 is presented as follows:
	
		
			   Private sector sales  Social homes sold by LAs and RSLs to sitting tenants 
			 1997 427,317 15,890 
			 1998 405,767 14,540 
			 1999 463,149 19,970 
			 2000 426,018 16,750 
			 2001 462,657 16,520 
			 2002 489,901 19,640 
			 2003 438,270 19,560 
			 2004 443,117 12,500 
			 2005 370,601 6,920 
			 2006 470,621 5,020 
			 2007 451,438 3,170 
			 2008 234,041 820 
		
	
	Figures on private sector sales are from Land Registry date, and are based on changes of ownership of properties at market value price. Sales below market value (such as right to buy) are excluded from the private sector sales. Sales at under £1,000 and sales above £20 million have been excluded. Some properties may have been sold more than once during the period.
	Figures on social homes sold are from quarterly P1B returns to CLG from local authorities, and from regulatory and statistical returns (RSR) to the Tenant Services Authority (TSA) from registered social landlords. They include sales to sitting tenants through right to buy, preserved right to buy, right to acquire, rent to mortgage, and voluntary purchase grant. large scale voluntary transfers (LSVTs) of local authority stock to RSLs are not included in the figures.
	Local authorities that are classed as rural under the DEFRA rural codes have been included and local authorities classed as urban by DEFRA have been filtered out. 178 local authorities have been defined as rural by the DEFRA rural definition (2004).

Local Government Finance: Chorley

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding Chorley borough council received from the rate support grant in each year since 1997.

Barbara Follett: The following table shows the increases for Chorley borough council in formula grant for each year from 1998-99 onwards on a like-for-like basis i.e. after adjusting for changes in function and funding.
	
		
			   Prior years adjusted  formula grant( 1)  (£ million)  Current year's  formula grant( 2)  (£  million)  Change (£ million)  Percentage Change 
			 1998-99 5.505 5.290 -0.215 -3.9 
			 1999-2000 5.290 5.428 0.139 2.6 
			 2000-01 5.428 5.676 0.248 4.6 
			 2001-02 5.715 5.888 0.173 3.0 
			 2002-03 5.789 6.105 0.316 5.5 
			 Amended 2003-04 5.948 6.691 0.743 12.5 
			 Amended 2004-05 5.972 6.309 0.338 5.7 
			 Amended 2005-06 6.336 6.655 0.319 5.0 
			 2006-07(3) 7.378 7.698 0.320 4.3 
			 2007-08 7.671 8.008 0.337 4.4 
			 2008-09 8.063 8.221 0.158 2.0 
			 2009-10 8.221 8.358 0.137 1.67 
			 2010-11 provisional 8.358 8.487 0.129 1.5 
			 (1) The prior year's formula grant is adjusted for changes in function and funding to enable a like-for-like comparison. (2) Formula Grant comprises Revenue Support Grant, redistributed business rates, principal formula Police Grant, SSA Reduction Grant (SSA Review), SSA Reduction Grant (Police Funding Review) and Central Support Protection Grant where appropriate. (3) Prior to 2006-07 support for schools was paid through formula grant. In 2006-07 funding for schools transferred to the Dedicated Schools Grant. 
		
	
	The amount of formula grant an authority receives each year is not directly comparable due to changes in funding and functions. For example, prior to 2006-07 funding for schools was included within formula grant; from 2006-07 onwards funding for schools was provided by the dedicated schools grant. For this reason, we therefore adjust the prior year's formula grant, for comparison purposes only, so that it reflects the notional amount of formula grant an authority would have received in that year had we been financing the same services as in the current year.
	The Department only holds data on year-on-year changes in formula grant on a like-for-like basis from 1997-98. This is because it only became necessary to make these calculations when guarantees were introduced that formula grant would not go down from one year to the next.

Non-Domestic Rates

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the percentage change in the  (a) small business and  (b) national non-domestic multiplier will be between 2009-10 and 2010-11; what proportion of this change is attributable to (i) changes in rateable value arising from the 2010 revaluation and (ii) the level of retail price index inflation in September 2009; and whether the percentage change in collectable rates and the relevant multipliers will match.

Barbara Follett: The small business multiplier is 48.1p for 2009-10 and the provisional small business multiplier for 2010-11 is 40.7p. The percentage change between the two figures is -15.4 per cent.
	An estimate of the small business multiplier based on zero inflation (i.e. considering only the effect of revaluation) was published in the 'The transitional arrangements for the non-domestic rating revaluation 2010 in England' consultation document. A copy of the consultation document is available at the following link:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovemment/nndrrevaluation2010
	
		
			   Pence  Percentage change when compared to 2009-10 
			 2009-10 Small Business Multiplier 48.1 - 
			 2010-11 Small Business Multiplier (zero inflation, as published in the consultation document) 41.3 -14.1 
			 2010-11 Small Business Multiplier (including September 2009 RPI, and same assumptions as in the consultation document 40.7 -15.4 
		
	
	The national non-domestic multiplier is determined by adding a supplement to the small business multiplier to fund the estimated cost of the small business rate relief scheme. In 2009-10 this supplement was 0.4p, bringing the national non-domestic multiplier to 48.5p. For 2010-11, the supplement is estimated at 0.7p, bringing the provisional national non-domestic multiplier to 41.4p. The percentage change between the two is -14.6 per cent.
	The five-yearly business rates revaluations make sure each business pays its fair contribution and no more by ensuring the share of the national rates bill paid by any one business reflects changes over time in the value of their property relative to others. The 2010 revaluation will not raise a single extra penny for Government.
	Over a million properties will see their business rate liabilities come down as a result of revaluation. The Government intend to put in place a £2 billion relief scheme to limit the impact on the minority with bill increases. That is on top of the wider support available to help ease business pressures including discounted rate bills for small businesses and deferring tax payments.

Non-Domestic Rates: Empty Property

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the monetary value of empty property relief was in  (a) 2006-07,  (b) 2007-08 and  (c) 2008-09; what estimate he has made of the equivalent figure in 2009-10; and what the actual figure is in 2009-10 to date.

Barbara Follett: The amounts of empty property relief granted in 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 and the amount forecast to be granted in 2009-10 are as follows:
	
		
			  Empty property relief 
			   £ million 
			 2006-07 1,362 
			 2007-08 1,294 
			 2008-09 487 
			 2009-10 570 
		
	
	In 2008-09, the rules governing empty and partly occupied property relief were reformed by the Rating (Empty Properties) Act 2007 and further reforms were introduced for 2009-10.
	Data are as reported to Communities and Local Government by all billing authorities in England on the annual National Non-Domestic Rates (NNDR) returns.
	The figures given are the net empty property relief granted in that year irrespective of the year to which the empty property relief related. It can also include the repayment of non-domestic rates where empty property relief should have been granted in previous years but was not.

Non-Domestic Rates: Empty Property

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate has been made of the proportion of the 70 per cent. of properties with a rateable value below £15,000 that will claim full relief from business rates in 2009-10 as a result of being empty.

Barbara Follett: Our reforms to empty property relief are principled and right for the long-term, providing strong incentives for owners to re-let and re-use empty property. £1.3 billion subsidy to owners of empty commercial property was no longer justified.
	However, we have listened to owners. In 2009-10 all empty properties with rateable values up to £15,000 are eligible for full relief from business rates-70 per cent. of all properties are under this threshold and, if empty, are not liable for rates in 2009-10.
	This temporary measure is providing real help to owners to manage short-term pressures in a difficult property market.
	No estimate has been made of the proportion of hereditaments, which have a rateable value below £15,000, that are claiming full relief from business rates as a result of being empty.
	The 'National Non-domestic rates collected by local authorities in England 2009-10 (Forecast)' Statistical Release that was published on 28 May 2009 estimated that, in total, 148,000 hereditaments were empty in England as at 31 December 2008. This release can be found on the CLG website at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/nondomesticrates200910f

Non-Domestic Rates: Empty Property

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the total monetary value of the full relief from business rates in 2009-10 for empty properties with a rateable value below £15,000.

Barbara Follett: Our reforms to empty property relief are principled and right for the long-term, providing strong incentives for owners to re-let and re-use empty property. £1.3 billion subsidy to owners of empty commercial property was no longer justified.
	However, we have listened to owners. In 2009-10 all empty properties with rateable values up to £15,000 are eligible for full relief from business rates-70 per cent. of all properties are under this threshold and, if empty, are not liable for rates in 2009-10.
	This temporary measure is providing real help to owners to manage short-term pressures in a difficult property market.
	No data on the monetary value of the full relief from business rates in 2009-10 given to empty properties with a rateable value below £15,000 are collected centrally.
	An impact assessment of the proposals to increase the exemption threshold for empty property relief from £2,200 to £15,000 was published in February 2009. This forecast is based on a number of assumptions, which are detailed in the impact assessment available at:
	http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2009/em/uksiem_20090353_en.pdf
	The impact assessment forecast that the reform would increase the amount of empty property relief provided by £205 million. The forecast excludes the relief granted to hereditaments with a rateable value of less than £2,200, of which no estimate has been made.

Excise Duties: Oil

Mark Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has made an assessment of the merits of amending the Hydrocarbon Oil (Registered Dealers in Controlled Oil) Regulations 2002 to exempt retailers who provide small amounts of loose controlled oil in customer-owned containers from the provisions of sections 23A(1) and (4) of the Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Registered Dealers in Controlled Oil (RDCO) scheme was introduced in 2002, with an exemption for businesses supplying and receiving oil in pre-packaged containers not exceeding 20 litres. All other supplies of controlled oils were included in the RDCO scheme. The scope of this exemption was reviewed in a post implementation review of the scheme in 2005, and the decision was taken not to extend it. We continue to review the scheme in order to minimise the administrative burdens on businesses.

Property: Valuation

Justine Greening: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total rateable value of properties on the 2005 Rating List was in  (a) 2007-08,  (b) 2008-09 and  (c) 2009-10; and what the total rateable value of properties is on the draft 2010 rating list.

Ian Pearson: The total rateable values included in the 2005 Local Rating Lists England are as follows:
	As at 1 April 2007 = £47,110 million
	As at 1 April 2008 = £46,771 million
	As at 29 May 2009 = £46,808 million
	The total rateable value included in the draft 2010 Local Rating Lists England as at the 29 May 2009 was £55,871 million.

Taxation: Business

Mark Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many  (a) small and medium-sized enterprises and  (b) other enterprises which have made Time to Pay arrangements with HM Revenue and Customs to defer tax through the Business Payment Support Service HM Revenue and Customs forecasts will be unable to meet their tax liabilities in (i) January 2010, (ii) February 2010, (iii) March 2010, (iv) April 2010, (v) May 2010, (vi) June 2010, (vii) July 2010, (viii) August 2010 and (ix) September 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) measures the Business Payment Support Service through the number and value of agreements reached, and not by the size of business.
	No such forecasts have been made.
	However, since the service was introduced on 24 November 2008, over 90 per cent. of the value of payments due have been paid. Where taxpayers do not meet the obligations of the Time To Pay agreement, HMRC takes appropriate recovery action to secure the tax due.

Departmental Contracts

Don Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what criteria her Department uses in determining the award of contracts; and how much her Department and its predecessors spent on the advertisement of tenders for Government contracts since 1997.

Jim Knight: The criteria the Department uses in determining the award of contracts is tailored specifically to individual contracts. Contracts are let though a fair and open competitive tendering process underpinned by EU principles of transparency, equal treatment, non-discrimination and proportionality. Contracts should deliver sustainable best practice commercial services and solutions that support the required departmental business outcomes, take account of current policies and provide best value for money.
	Departmental spend on advertising contracts since 1997 is not collated centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Where appropriate, current contracts are advertised through the  Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) which is free of charge. Procurement teams will also consider advertising in external trade journals and other relevant publications if appropriate to individual contracts.

Departmental Internet

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost was of maintaining her Department's website in the 2008-09 financial year; and what the forecast cost is of maintaining websites within her responsibility in the 2009-10 financial year.

Jim Knight: Ongoing delivery and maintenance of the Department's website is carried out by the Department's own in-house Digital Media team. It is not possible for us to extract and quantify internal staff costs, because in most cases, staff are engaged in more than one role. In addition, we are unable to establish accurately our and annual running costs because they form part of a wider departmental IT contract.
	We can provide a figure for 2008-09 development work, as we redeveloped the Department's website in that year. This is a one off cost relating to that development only and is not an annual cost. This is £215,666.00.
	The total forecast expenditure for Directgov in the 2009-10 financial year is £30,500,000. This is consistent with previously agreed financial figures and covers all aspects of Directgov business of which an aspect is website maintenance.
	It is not possible to provide 2009-10 forecast costs for the remaining websites within the responsibility of the Department. We are working with Cabinet Office to implement a standardised method for quantifying website costs across Government in line with Central Office of Information guidelines. This is in response to a Public Accounts Committee recommendation. These costs will be available from April 2010 onwards as per the timetable.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost to her Department was of provision of that office facilities to  (a) special advisers and  (b) press officers in the 2008-09 financial year.

Jim Knight: DWP special advisers are based in London and the annual cost of providing serviced office accommodation was £38,220 in 2008-09.
	The cost of providing serviced accommodation for DWP press office and support staff in London, the regions, Scotland and Wales, was £233,914 in 2008-09. DWP Press Office carried out work on behalf of the Department, Jobcentre Plus, the Pensions, Disability and Carers Service and Child Support Agency (now Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission).

Flexible Working: Wales

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many parents of young children have exercised their right to request flexible working in  (a) Newport East constituency and  (b) Wales since the introduction of that right.

Patrick McFadden: I have been asked to reply.
	The new employment rights introduced on April 2003 gave parents of children under six and disabled children under 18 the right to request flexible working, this was extended to carers in April 2007 and parents of children aged 16 and under in April 2009. The proportion of employees with children (under 16 years old) who have requested to work flexibly by region and nation in Great Britain are provided in the following table. These figures are from the Flexible Working Survey (2005) however information is not available for Newport East and due to a small sample size of respondents in Wales reliable information is only available for all employees' requests for flexible working, not those employees with children.
	Later information comes from the Work Life Balance Survey (2006), which asked 2,081 employees in Great Britain whether they made a request in the last two years to change their working arrangements. Again, the relative small sample size representing Wales mean reliable statistics are not available for parents of young children; however the survey found that 18 per cent. of all respondents in Wales requested flexible working, 17 per cent. for all of Great Britain.
	
		
			  Table 1: Requests to work flexibly over last two years, employees with children 
			  Percentage 
			   Employees with children (under 16) requests for flexible working  All employees 
			 Great Britain 19 14 
			 England 19 14 
			
			 North East 20 13 
			 North West (1)- 13 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 19 12 
			 East Midlands * 16 
			 West Midlands 13 10 
			 East of England (1)- (1)- 
			 London 25 15 
			 South East 18 14 
			 South West 27 17 
			
			 Wales (1)- 14 
			 Scotland 19 13 
			 (1) Reliable figures are not available due to small sample sizes.  Source: Flexible Working Employee Survey 2005

Social Security Benefits: Elderly

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which disability benefits are included in the figure of £6.1 billion quoted on page 101 of the Green Paper on Shaping the future of care together, for expenditure on the disability benefits specifically targeted at older people; and what estimate was made of the amount spent on each benefit.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 23 November 2009
	The £6.1 billion quoted on page 101 of Shaping the Future of Care Together, refers to the amount of attendance allowance and disability living allowance paid in 2007-08 to those aged 65 and over in England. The expenditure was estimated at £3.5 and £2.6 billion respectively.

Social Security Benefits: Greater Manchester

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what the budget is for the Work of Your Benefits pilots in  (a) Manchester and  (b) Norfolk;
	(2)  what the timetable is for the Work for Your Benefits pilots in  (a) Manchester and  (b) Norfolk; and what evaluation process will take place during and after the pilots.

Jim Knight: There are two pilot areas, both of which cover multiple Jobcentre Plus Districts. The overall budget for the Work for Your Benefit programme is as follows:
	 (a) Greater Manchester Central and Greater Manchester East and West: £9.34 million
	 (b) Cambridgeshire and Suffolk; and Norfolk: £5.66 million
	Both Work for Your Benefit pilots will start delivery in November 2010 and will run for two years. There will be a full and independent evaluation of the pilots which will begin in 2010. Findings will be available throughout the lifetime of the pilots with early results available from autumn 2011. A final report will be published in 2013-14.

Government Communications

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department's Research, Information and Communications Unit is affiliated to the Government Communication Network.

David Hanson: The Research, Information and Communications Unit (RICU) is not affiliated to the Government Communications Network (GCN), but a number of staff working within RICU have been recruited through and are members of the GCN.

Police: Public Appointments

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Chief Executive of the National Policing Improvement Agency was appointed; by whom he was appointed; whether he is eligible to receive a bonus; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: Chief constable Peter Neyroud was appointed as chief executive officer (CEO) Designate of the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) by the Minister of State for Policing in January 2006. He was appointed CEO upon the creation of the NPIA on 1 April 2007 by the Minister of State for Policing in consultation with the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Association of Police Authorities, as required by the Police and Justice Act 2006.
	The CEO is eligible to receive a performance-related bonus at the discretion of the NPIA Board. The board recommended that the CEO be awarded a bonus for the year 2008-09, but this was declined by the CEO.

Departmental Internet

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the cost was of maintaining his Department's website in the 2008-09 financial year; and what the forecast cost is of maintaining websites within his responsibility in the 2009-10 financial year.

Joan Ruddock: The Department of Energy and Climate Change was created on 3 October 2008, and its official corporate website was launched on 23 February 2009:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/
	The cost of developing and maintaining the Department of Energy and Climate Change's website in the 2008-09 financial year was: £58,874.00
	The forecast costs of maintaining websites within the Secretary of State's responsibility in the 2009-10 financial year are: £883,726.
	This includes the forecast costs for the Department's corporate site:
	www.decc.gov.uk
	Act on CO2
	http://actonco2.direct.gov.uk/actonco2/liome.html
	the Government's energy and climate change advice website to help people reduce their carbon footprint, ActOnCopenhagen
	http://www.actoncopenhagen.decc.gov.uk/en/
	HMG's official website for activities in the lead up to and during global climate change negotiations in Copenhagen, December 2009, as well as the websites listed as follows:
	https://www.energynpsconsultation.decc.gov.uk/
	(National Policy Statements consultation site)
	www.sedbuk.com
	(Boiler efficiency database)
	www.Hfccat-demo.org
	(Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Carbon Abatement Technologies Demonstration Programme)
	www.bioenergycapitalgrants.org.uk
	(The Bio-energy Capital Grants Scheme)
	http://chp.decc.gov.uk/cms/
	(CHP Focus-Combined Heat and Power)
	http://www.chpqa.com/
	(Quality assurance for Combined Heat and Power)
	www.corwm.org.uk
	(Committee on Radioactive Waste Management)
	www.rimnet.gov.uk
	www.ensg.gov.uk
	(Electricity Networks Strategy Group)
	www.og.decc.gov.uk
	(Oil and Gas Portal)
	https://www.og.decc.gov.uk/EIP/pages/help.htm
	(DECC Energy Infrastructure Portal)
	www.planningrenewables.org.uk
	Planning Renewables website
	www.renewables-advisory-board.org.uk
	(The Renewables Advisory Board (RAB))
	www.ukrenewables.com
	(DECC's UK Renewables Service)
	www.avoid.uk.net
	(website providing key advice to the UK Government on avoiding dangerous climate change)
	www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk/home
	www.bigenergyshift.org.uk
	www.decc.gov.uk/offsetting

Departmental Recruitment

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of jobs advertised by his Department in the last 12 months were online only applications; and what provision his Department makes for those wishing to apply for jobs in his Department who do not have access to the internet.

Joan Ruddock: In the past 12 months, the Department did not externally advertise any roles on an online only basis.
	Applicants without access to the internet can telephone to request a hard copy of an application pack.

Electricity: Pensions

Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the Government Actuary's Department's recent report on the stewardship of electricity sector pension schemes; and what consideration he has given to bringing forward measures to enable Ofgem to regulate in this area.

David Kidney: The Government Actuary Department's report was commissioned by Ofgem as part of its review of compliance with its price control pension principles. The report fed in to Ofgem's fifth distribution price control review, the final decision on which was published on 7 December 2009:
	http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Pages/MoreInformation.aspx?docid=346refer=rNetworks/ElecDist/PriceCntrls/DPCR5
	We have no plans to bring forward measures to change Ofgem's role regarding pensions.

Energy: Housing

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what expenditure his Department expects to incur on the Pay as You Save pilots in  (a) 2009-10,  (b) 2010-11 and  (c) subsequent years.

Joan Ruddock: The Home Energy PAYS pilots have a budget of £4 million in total. £2 million in 2009-10 and £2 million in 2010-11. The pilots end in April 2011 and therefore there is no budget in subsequent years. The administration costs of the pilot are being covered by our delivery partners, and they will cover these costs for the duration of the PAYS arrangements.

Energy: Prices

Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  what recent representations he has made to Ofgem on the fifth Distribution Price Control Review; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  with reference to the fifth Distribution Price Control Review, what assessment he has made of the effect a settlement below that requested by the distribution network operators would have on the level of economic growth;
	(3)  with reference to the fifth Distribution Price Control Review, what assessment he has made of the effect a settlement below that requested by the distribution network operators would have on the connection of new onshore renewables to the National Grid and the achievement of climate change targets;
	(4)  with reference to the fifth Distribution Price Control Review, what assessment he has made of the effect a settlement below that requested by the distribution network operators would have on  (a) maintaining secure energy supplies and  (b) the standard of customer service, particularly in rural areas;
	(5)  with reference to the fifth Distribution Price Control Review, what estimate he has made of the effect a settlement below that requested by the distribution network operators would have on the number of highly skilled jobs.

David Kidney: Ministers and officials meet with Ofgem representatives and DNO representatives regularly to discuss a wide range of issues, including the Fifth Distribution Price Control Review (DPCR5).
	As economic regulator of the electricity industry, it falls to Ofgem to administer the distribution price control regime. Ofgem published its final decision on DPCR5 on 7 December, after a period of consultation with network operators (DNOs) and other interested parties.
	The price control regime ensures DNOs can, through efficient operation, earn a fair return after capital and operating costs while limiting costs passed onto customers. DNOs can reject a price control, in which case it will be considered by the Competition Commission.

National Nuclear Policy Statement

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the cost has been of each regional hearing organised by his Department since publication of the National Nuclear Policy Statement on 9 November 2009 inviting residents to have their say on proposals to build a new nuclear power station in their area; how many departmental officials attended each meeting; how many incurred overnight stays in each case, and at what cost; and whether provision has been made to defray the costs of interested parties in travelling to and staying overnight to enable attendance at such meetings.

David Kidney: The Planning Act 2008 requires the Government to consult the public and stakeholders on the draft National Policy Statements (NPSs) before they can be designated. The consultation is ongoing and therefore we do not yet have detailed costs associated with each event. We estimate that, on average, each of the 10 events, including design, strategic planning, production, marketing, staffing and transport, will cost in the region of about £60,000. Between four and seven DECC staff attend each event over the course of each three day exhibition (open from 8 am to 8 pm) and public meeting. Accommodation and subsistence costs are not finalised at this early stage in the consultation and we would expect that these will vary depending on the location. However, we would expect all these costs to be within civil service guidelines, with hotels costing around £60 per person per night for example.
	The primary target audience of the Nuclear NPS events is the local community, therefore we would not expect members of the public to incur accommodation costs and only limited travel costs to attend the events. Venues were chosen to be as close to the proposed nuclear power station site. We took into account a number of principles which helped us in choosing the exhibition location . These included:
	Journey time to proposed site
	Historic evidence of attendance levels to similar consultations
	Existence of multiple proposed sites in one area
	A wide range of venues were considered for each location. Suggested venues have been recommended by local authorities and energy companies (who have undertaken similar events in the past) and we have endeavoured to use as many of these recommendations as possible. The priority was finding the largest possible venues, nearest to the site.

Departmental Finance

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to the Home Department's Together we can end violence against women and girls strategy, how much his Department plans to spend on family intervention projects in  (a) 2009-10,  (b) 2010-11 and  (c) each of the subsequent three years; and from what budget such expenditure will be drawn.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government allocated £35.5 million for family intervention projects in 2009-10 and are planning to allocate £57 million Government funding in 2010-11. Expenditure is being drawn from the Department for Children, Schools and Families, Home Office, Ministry of Justice, Communities and Local Government and Department of Health budgets. In addition there is anticipated match funding of £9.5 million from registered social landlords, housing associations and youth offending teams.
	Departmental budgets, and therefore the funding for family intervention projects, have yet to be determined beyond March 2011. Decisions will be made following spending review discussions once the Department's settlement is agreed.

Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people worked for the Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity in each of the last three years.

Jack Straw: The Independent Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity, chaired by Baroness Neuberger, did not exist before April 2009 and is now due to produce its report and conclude its work in early 2010. Therefore, the panel will only be operational for less than a calendar year.
	The Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity has no separate support. It is being supported by officials from within the Constitution and Judiciary Division of the Ministry of Justice, within existing budgets. None of the officials work full-time for or on the advisory panel, but, seven spend significant time on it.

Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much the Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity cost in each of the last three years.

Jack Straw: The Independent Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity, chaired by Baroness Neuberger, did not exist before April 2009 and is now due to produce its report and conclude its work in early 2010. Therefore, the Panel will only be operational for less than a calendar year and so will not have ongoing annual running costs.
	The costs of the Panel, from April 2009 to the end of October, were £20,975, excluding secretariat staff costs.

Legal Aid

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how much his Department received from each other Government department from the legal aid impact test in each year since 1999;
	(2)  what proportion of money received from other Government departments as a consequence of the legal aid impact test in the last 10 years has been allocated to the Legal Aid Fund.

Bridget Prentice: Funding received from other Government Departments for legal aid since 2005-06, when the legal aid impact test was introduced, is shown in the following table.
	All the funding received was allocated to the legal aid fund.
	
		
			  Transfers from other Government Department 
			£000 
			 2005-06 Department for Education and Skills-Adoption and Children Act 2002 1,868 
			
			 2006-07 Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs-Clean Neighbourhood and Environment Act 2005 35 
			
			 2007-08 Home Office-Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 178 
			
			 2008-09 Home Office-Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 283 
			  Home Office automatic deportation 705 
			  Department for Work and Pensions-Child Support Reform Funding 3,200 
			  Department of Health-Mental Health Tribunal funding 790 
			  Department for Work and Pensions-Employment and Support Allowance funding 760 
			
			 2009-10 Home Office-Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 286 
			  Department for Work and Pensions Employment and Support Allowance (jobcentre plus) Appeals Court funding 4,600 
			  Department for Work and Pensions-Child Support Reform Funding 4,500 
			  Department of Health-Mental Health Tribunal funding 1,891 
			  Home Office-European Environment Agency modelling 135 
			  Home Office-automatic deportation 1,190 
			  Total 20,421

Legal Aid

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what assessment has been made of the efficacy of the legal aid impact test;
	(2)  what guidance his Department provides to other departments on completing the legal aid impact test; and what models and analysis are used to assess the impact of proposed legislation on the legal aid budget;
	(3)  what research his Department has conducted into the effectiveness of the legal aid impact test.

Bridget Prentice: The legal aid and judicial impact test (LAJIT) was introduced in 2005 to formalise the arrangements under which Departments responsible for policy change had an obligation to meet the downstream costs falling to other agencies. The purpose of the LAJIT is to ensure that policy makers are aware of the potential impact that their proposals could have on legal aid and the courts so that resources can be better managed and, where appropriate, funding secured from other Government Departments. The Better Regulation Executive (BRE) has oversight of the overall Impact Assessment process across Government, and owns the relevant templates and guidance. Its guidance toolkit includes specific guidance for policy makers in Departments on the LAJIT.
	The models and analysis used to assess the impact of proposed policy changes on the legal aid budget include identifying instances where legal aid could potentially be required and applying suitable unit costs, These estimates are agreed between the MoJ and the Department introducing the policy.
	No formal research or assessment of the legal aid impact test has been carried out. The BRE is, however, revising the impact assessment template, toolkit and guidance in order to promote the continued improvement of impact assessments. This work is due for completion in the first half of 2010. As part of that project, Ministry of Justice officials are working with BRE to review the legal aid impact test.

Legal Profession: Females

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent progress has been made on increasing the level of access of women to senior positions in the legal profession.

Bridget Prentice: The legal professions have attracted significant criticism over the years for not representing the diverse society in which we live. However, this criticism has put diversity at the top of the agenda for the professions and their response has been encouraging.
	In 1998 women accounted for 53.6 per cent. of traineeships registered with the Law Society. This increased steadily to 63.4 per cent. in 2007-08. Therefore the focus of the debate has in many ways shifted towards ensuring that diversity is maintained at all levels within the professions and that progression is not in any way linked to an individual's gender.
	In 1998 women made up 17 per cent. of partners at law firms in England and Wales, compared to 24 per cent. in 2008. In 1998 less than 6.5 per cent. of all Queen's Counsellors were female; a decade later this figure was 10 per cent. In addition to this progression in law it is important to remember that according to the Association of Women's Solicitors (AWS), women are more successful when working in-house in the legal departments of industrial and commercial companies; for example, women head the legal teams at BT, Serco and the London Development Agency.
	A variety of programmes has been initiated in order to improve further women's career progression in the legal professions. 11 per cent. of judges and recorders in 1999 were female; today this figure is 19.4 per cent.. The Ministry of Justice is devoting considerable effort and resources to continue to improve diversity in the judiciary. In April 2009 the Lord Chancellor established an independent Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity, to identify the barriers to progress on judicial diversity and make recommendations on how to make speedier and sustained progress to a more diverse judiciary at every level. The panel is expected to build upon the work that is already under way in this area, and to draw on lessons learned from current initiatives, including the Judicial Appointments Commission's Judicial Diversity Forum and the follow-up work from the Lord Chief Justice's conference on A Judiciary for the 21st century.
	In the private sector, the Association of Women's Solicitors, alongside major City law firms such as Lovells, have undertaken research which identifies that key barriers for women are that they do not have role models or are self-promoting enough. Accordingly they are running 'soft skill' programmes to encourage women to acknowledge their own success more, and for 20 years AWS have run a mentoring scheme so that new entries into the profession can be paired with more experienced female lawyers in order to pass on experience and contacts. AWS is also at the centre of encouraging law firms to adapt flexible working, so that mothers can still have a legal career alongside their family lives.
	60 per cent. of new solicitors are now female. It may take up to a decade for these new lawyers to become partners in big city firms, and we look forward to more diversity at all levels of the legal profession in the future thanks to the progress we are making now.

Legal Services Commission: North West

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which organisations in the North West procurement area received funds from the Legal Services Commission in  (a) 2006-07,  (b) 2007-08 and  (c) 2008-09; and for each such organisation how many (i) asylum and (ii) non-asylum immigration cases they had in which Legal Services Commission funding started in each of those years.

Bridget Prentice: The information in Table 1 shows active legal aid providers in the north-west procurement area for financial years 2006-07, 2007/08 and 2008-09 and whether they delivered immigration and/or asylum work. Table 2 shows immigration and asylum cases started.
	
		
			  Table 1 
			  Provider name  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			   Asylum  Non Asylum  Asylum  Non Asylum  Asylum  Non Asylum 
			 A S Law Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 Beevers Solicitors Yes No No No No No 
			 Binas Solicitors Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 Birchfields Solicitors Yes Yes No No No No 
			 Bolton and District CAB Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 Brighouse Wolff No Yes No No No No 
			 Bury Law Centre Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 Clifford Johnston and Co Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 E Rex Makin and Co No No No No Yes No 
			 Graham Leigh Pfeffer and Co No No No No No Yes 
			 Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 Immigration Advisory Service Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 Jackson and Canter LLP Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 Liverpool Central Cab Yes Yes No No No No 
			 Mohammed and Co Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 Molesworths Bright Clegg Yes Yes Yes Yes No No 
			 National Youth Advocacy Service Yes No No No No No 
			 North Manchester Law Centre Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 Norton and Co Yes Yes No No No No 
			 Oldham Law Centre Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 Oldham Metropolitan Citizens Advice Bureau Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 Robert Lizar Yes Yes Yes Yes No No 
			 Rochdale Law Centre Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 Rogerson Galvin Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 SFN Solicitors Yes Yes Yes Yes No No 
			 South Manchester Law Centre Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 Southerns Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 The Watson Ramsbottom Partnership Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 Trafford Law Centre Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2 
			  Firm  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			   Asylum  Non Asylum  Asylum  Non Asylum  Asylum  Non Asylum 
			 Firm 1 1,089 1,610 1,322 1,487 1,400 2,276 
			 Firm 2 346 517 512 285 502 221 
			 Firm 3 341 195 609 112. 851 148 
			 Firm 4 280 322 393 168 349 142 
			 Firm 5 173 153 200 134 246 138 
			 Firm 6 46 183 74 119 72 149 
			 Firm 7 26 210 27 208 9 133 
			 Firm 8 69 137 74 107 119 88 
			 Firm 9 165 144 7 10 114 119 
			 Firm 10 54 134 53 117 42 157 
			 Firm 11 149 37 114 23 147 50 
			 Firm 12 76 99 48 82 70 74 
			 Firm 13 68 72 47 67 58 72 
			 Firm 14 40 104 51 108, 16 51 
			 Firm 15 92 17 85 6 81 63 
			 Firm 16 73 68 26 42 55 61 
			 Firm 17 7 32 7 130 27 95 
			 Firm 18 56 80 30 35 - - 
			 Firm 19 58 - 33 6 41 25 
			 Firm 20 87 49 - - - - 
			 Firm 21 33 77 1 6 - - 
			 Firm 22 66 4 - - - - 
			 Firm 23 28 16 1 4 - - 
			 Firm 24 42 - - - - - 
			 Firm 25 12 27 - - . - - 
			 Firm 26 12 - - - - - 
			 Firm 27 - - - - - 10 
			 Firm 28 - 3 - - - - 
			 Firm 29 - - - - 1 - 
			  3,488 4,290 3,714 3,256 4,200 4,072 
			 Not es: 1. To protect commercial interests of the providers involved, the table has been anonymised and is not reflective of the order in Table 1. 2. NMS figures are the number of new matters reported at the end of the relevant financial year. 3. Some firms reported zero NMS though they held a contract in these categories of law.

Offenders: Rehabilitation

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners in each prison establishment participated in each type of offender behaviour programme in the latest 12 months for which figures are available.

Jack Straw: The tables set out the number of starts by prisoners in 2008-09 for each type of accredited offending behaviour programmes by prison. The figures have been drawn from administrative data systems and although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.
	
		
			  N umber of starts for prisoners who undertook an accredited offending behaviour programme by prison in 2008-09 
			   Drugs  and  Alcohol 
			  Establishment  12 Step (HMPS)  12 Step (RAPt)  STOP  SDP  PASRO  ADTP  TC  TC (Women)  FOCUS  PASRO (Women)  ARV 
			 Acklington - - 36 - - - - - - - - 
			 Albany - - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Altcourse - - 96 240 - - - - - - - 
			 Ashwell - - - - 72 - - - - - - 
			 Aylesbury - - - - 60 - - - - - - 
			 Bedford - - - 237 - - - - - - - 
			 Belmarsh - - - 120 - - - - - - - 
			 Birmingham - - - 120 - - - - - - - 
			 Blakenhurst - - - 240 - - - - - - - 
			 Blundeston - - - - 96 - - - - - - 
			 Brinsford - - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Bristol - - - 120 - - - - - - - 
			 Brixton - - - 108 96 - - - - - - 
			 Buckley Hall - - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Bullingdon - 96 - 240 - 84 - - - - - 
			 Camp Hill - - - - 96 - - - - - - 
			 Cardiff - - - - 84 - - - - - - 
			 Castington - - - 100 - - - - - - - 
			 Channings Wood - - - - - - 66 - - - - 
			 Chelmsford - - - - 60 - - - - - 10 
			 Coldingley - 100 - - - - - - - - - 
			 Dartmoor 35 - - - 84 - - - - - - 
			 Deerbolt - - - - 80 - - - - - - 
			 Doncaster - - - 240 - - - - - - - 
			 Dorchester - - - 120 - - - - - - - 
			 Dovegate - - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Downview - - - 32 - - - - - - - 
			 Drake Hall - - - - - - - 16 - - - 
			 Durham - - - - 96 - - - - - - 
			 Eastwood Park - - - 96 - - - - - - - 
			 Edmunds Hill - - - - 96 - - - - - - 
			 Elmley - - - 120 96 - - - - - - 
			 Erlestoke 60 - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Everthorpe - 67 - - 96 - - - - - - 
			 Exeter - - - 120 - - - - - - - 
			 Featherstone - - - - 96 - - - - - - 
			 Ford - - - 117 - - - - - - - 
			 Forest Bank - - - 204 - - - - - - 10 
			 Foston Hall - - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Frankland - - - - - - - - 19 - - 
			 Full Sutton - - - - - - - - 18 - - 
			 Garth - - - - - - 40 - - - - 
			 Gartree - - 36 - - - - - - - - 
			 Glen Parva - - - 130 50 - - - - - 10 
			 Gloucester - - - 120 - - - - - - - 
			 Guys Marsh - - - - 96 - - - - - - 
			 Haverigg - - - - 96 - - - - - - 
			 Hewell - - - - - - - - - - - 
			 High Down - - - 84 - - - - - - - 
			 Highpoint - - 48 - 96 - - - - - - 
			 Hindley - - - - 60 - - - - - - 
			 Hollesley Bay - - - 120 - - - - - - - 
			 Holloway - - - 120 - - - - - 10 - 
			 Holme House - - - 120 - - 65 - - - - 
			 Hull - - - 84 - - - - - - 10 
			 Kingston - - - - 24 - - - - - - 
			 Kirkham - - - - 96 - - - - - - 
			 Lancaster Castle 64 - - - 72 - - - - - - 
			 Lancaster Farms - - - 70 - - - - - - - 
			 Leeds - - - 120 - - - - - - - 
			 Leicester - - - 120 - - - - - - - 
			 Lewes - - - - 96 - - - - - - 
			 Leyhill - - - 24 - - - - - - - 
			 Lincoln - - - 122 - - - - - - - 
			 Lindholme - - - - 144 - - - - - - 
			 Littlehey - 61 - - - - - - - - - 
			 Liverpool - - - - 72 - - - - - - 
			 Long Lartin - - - - - - - - 16 - - 
			 Low Newton - - - - - - - - - 50 - 
			 Lowdham Grange - - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Maidstone - - - - 96 - - - - - - 
			 Manchester - - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Moorland - - - - 35 - - - - - - 
			 Mount - 102 - - - - - - - - - 
			 New Hall - - - 87 - - - - - - - 
			 North Sea Camp - - - 101 - - - - - - - 
			 Northallerton - - - 100 - - - - - - - 
			 Norwich - 60 - - - - - - - - - 
			 Nottingham - - - 120 - - - - - - - 
			 Onley - - - - 92 - - - - - - 
			 Parc - - - - 96 - - - - - - 
			 Parkhurst - - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Pentonville - - - 120 96 - - - - - - 
			 Peterborough - - - 120 - - - - - - - 
			 Portland - - - - 80 - - - - - - 
			 Preston - - - 144 - - - - - - - 
			 Ranby - - - - 96 - - - - - - 
			 Reading - - - 80 - - - - - - - 
			 Risley - - - - 96 - - - - - - 
			 Rochester - - - - 80 - - - - - - 
			 Rye Hill - - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Ryehill - - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Send - 56 - - - - - - - - - 
			 Shepton Mallet - - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Stafford - - - - 96 - - - - - - 
			 Standford Hill - - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Stocken - - 96 - - - - - - - - 
			 Stoke Heath - - - - 80 - - - - - - 
			 Styal - - - 259 - - - - - - - 
			 Sudbury - - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Swaleside - 93 - - - - - - - - - 
			 Swansea - - - 120 - - - - - - - 
			 Swinfen Hall - - - - 80 - - - - - - 
			 The Mount - - - - - - - - - - - 
			 The Verne - - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Thorn Cross - - - 98 - - - - - - - 
			 Usk - - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Wakefield - - - - - - - - 18 - - 
			 Wandsworth - 60 - 72 - - - - - - - 
			 Warren Hill - - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Wayland - - - - 96 - - - - - - 
			 Wealstun - - 48 - 96 - - - - - - 
			 Wellingborough - - - - 102 - - - - - - 
			 Wetherby - - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Whatton - - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Whitemoor - - - - - - - - 10 - - 
			 Winchester - - - 120 72 - - - - - - 
			 Wolds - - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Woodhill - - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Wormwood Scrubs - - - 203 95 - - - - - - 
			 Wymott - - - - - - 69 - - - - 
			 Grand total 159 695 360 5,552 3,594 84 240 16 81 60 40 
		
	
	
		
			   Sex Offender Treatment 
			  Establishment  Adapted  Core  Rolling  Extended  BLB  HSF 
			 Acklington 8 9 28 - - - 
			 Albany - 44 - 27 - - 
			 Altcourse - - - - - - 
			 Ashwell - - - - - - 
			 Aylesbury - 18 - - - - 
			 Bedford - - - - - - 
			 Belmarsh - - - - - - 
			 Birmingham - - - - - - 
			 Blakenhurst - - - - - - 
			 Blundeston - - - - - - 
			 Brinsford - - - - - - 
			 Bristol - - - - - - 
			 Brixton - - - - - - 
			 Buckley Hall - - - - - - 
			 Bullingdon - 27 31 - 26 - 
			 Camp Hill - - - - - - 
			 Cardiff - - - - - - 
			 Castington - - - - - - 
			 Channings Wood - 18 - - 18 - 
			 Chelmsford - - - - - - 
			 Coldingley - - - - - - 
			 Dartmoor - - - - - - 
			 Deerbolt - - - - - - 
			 Doncaster - - - - - - 
			 Dorchester - - - - - - 
			 Dovegate - - - - - - 
			 Downview - - - - - - 
			 Drake Hall - - - - - - 
			 Durham - - - - - - 
			 Eastwood Park - - - - - - 
			 Edmunds Hill - - - - - - 
			 Elmley - - 16 - - - 
			 Erlestoke - - - - - - 
			 Everthorpe - - - - - - 
			 Exeter - - - - - - 
			 Featherstone - - - - - - 
			 Ford - - - - - - 
			 Forest Bank - - - - - - 
			 Foston Hall - - - - - - 
			 Frankland 8 9 - 9 - 4 
			 Full Sutton - 14 19 9 - 2 
			 Garth - - - - - - 
			 Gartree - - - - - - 
			 Glen Parva - - - - - - 
			 Gloucester - - - - - - 
			 Guys Marsh - - - - - - 
			 Haverigg - - - - - - 
			 Hewell - - - - - - 
			 High Down - - - - - - 
			 Highpoint - - - - - - 
			 Hindley - - - - - - 
			 Hollesley Bay - - - - - - 
			 Holloway - - - - - - 
			 Holme House - - - - - - 
			 Hull - 27 56 - - - 
			 Kingston - - - - - - 
			 Kirkham - - - - - - 
			 Lancaster Castle - - - - - - 
			 Lancaster Farms - - - - - - 
			 Leeds - - - - - - 
			 Leicester - - - - - - 
			 Lewes - - - - - - 
			 Leyhill - - - - - - 
			 Lincoln - - - - - - 
			 Lindholme - - - - - - 
			 Littlehey - - 41 - - - 
			 Liverpool - - - - - - 
			 Long Lartin - - - - - - 
			 Low Newton - - - - - - 
			 Lowdham Grange - - - - - - 
			 Maidstone - 18 - - 8 - 
			 Manchester 8 9 - - - - 
			 Moorland - - - - - - 
			 Mount - - - - - - 
			 New Hall - - - - - - 
			 North Sea Camp - - - - - - 
			 Northallerton - - - - - - 
			 Norwich - - - - - - 
			 Nottingham - - - - - - 
			 Onley - - - - - - 
			 Parc - - 23 - - - 
			 Parkhurst - - - - - - 
			 Pentonville - - - - - - 
			 Peterborough - - - - - - 
			 Portland - - - - - - 
			 Preston - - - - - - 
			 Ranby - - - - - - 
			 Reading - - - - - - 
			 Risley - 36 27 9 8 5 
			 Rochester - - - - - - 
			 Rye Hill - - - - - - 
			 Ryehill 8 18 - - - - 
			 Send - - - - - - 
			 Shepton Mallet - 9 - 9 8 - 
			 Stafford - 18 34 - - - 
			 Standford Hill - - - - - - 
			 Stocken - - - - - - 
			 Stoke Heath - - - - - - 
			 Styal - - - - - - 
			 Sudbury - - - - - - 
			 Swaleside - - - - - - 
			 Swansea - - - - - - 
			 Swinfen Hall - 26 - 8 12 - 
			 The Mount - - - - - - 
			 The Verne - - - - - - 
			 Thorn Cross - - - - - - 
			 Usk 16 9 - - - 2 
			 Wakefield - 18 - 9 9 3 
			 Wandsworth - 36 25 - - - 
			 Warren Hill - - - - - - 
			 Wayland - 27 - - 16 - 
			 Wealstun - - - - - - 
			 Wellingborough - - - - - - 
			 Wetherby - - - - - - 
			 Whatton 32 54 34 9 58 17 
			 Whitemoor - - - - - - 
			 Winchester - - - - - - 
			 Wolds - - - - - - 
			 Woodhill - - - - - - 
			 Wormwood Scrubs - - - - - - 
			 Wymott 8 27 - - 9 - 
			 Grand total 88 471 334 89 172 33 
		
	
	
		
			   Offending Behaviour 
			  Establishment  ETS  HRP  TSP  CALM  BOOSTER  CSCP  FOR  CHROMIS  Grand total 
			 Acklington 79 16 10 - - - - - 186 
			 Albany 90 - - - - - - - 161 
			 Altcourse - - - - - - - - 336 
			 Ashwell 80 - - - - - - - 152 
			 Aylesbury 108 - - 40 - - - - 226 
			 Bedford - - - - - - - - 237 
			 Belmarsh - - - - - - - - 120 
			 Birmingham 58 - - - 5 - - - 183 
			 Blakenhurst - - - - - - - - 240 
			 Blundeston 60 - - 32 7 - - - 195 
			 Brinsford 36 - - - - - - - 36 
			 Bristol 60 - - - - - - - 180 
			 Brixton 39 - - - - - - - 243 
			 Buckley Hall 55 - - - - - - - 55 
			 Bullingdon 109 - - - - - - - 613 
			 Camp Hill 90 - - 8 - - - - 194 
			 Cardiff 80 - - 32 - - - - 196 
			 Castington 24 - 16 - - - - - 140 
			 Channings Wood 80 - - - - 1 - - 183 
			 Chelmsford 61 - - - - - - - 131 
			 Coldingley - - - - - - - - 100 
			 Dartmoor 59 - - 31 - - - - 209 
			 Deerbolt 74 - 10 - - - - - 164 
			 Doncaster - - - - - - - - 240 
			 Dorchester - - - - - - - - 120 
			 Dovegate 45 - - - - - - - 45 
			 Downview 40 - - - - - - - 72 
			 Drake Hall 60 - - - 13 - - - 89 
			 Durham - - - - - - - - 96 
			 Eastwood Park - - - - - - - - 96 
			 Edmunds Hill - - - - - - - - 96 
			 Elmley 70 - - 8 - - - - 310 
			 Erlestoke 60 16 - - - - - - 136 
			 Everthorpe 70 - - - - - - - 233 
			 Exeter 50 - - - - - - - 170 
			 Featherstone 67 - - 24 20 - - - 207 
			 Ford 10 - - - 7 - - - 134 
			 Forest Bank - - - - - - - - 214 
			 Foston Hall 19 - - - 10 - - - 29 
			 Frankland 80 - - - - - - 57 186 
			 Full Sutton 69 - - - - - - - 131 
			 Garth 100 8 10 24 - - - - 182 
			 Gartree 80 16 - 48 - 15 - - 195 
			 Glen Parva 89 - - 24 - - - - 303 
			 Gloucester - - - - - - - - 120 
			 Guys Marsh 90 - - - - - - - 186 
			 Haverigg - - - - - - - - 96 
			 Hewell 60 - - - 10 - - - 70 
			 High Down - - - - - - - - 84 
			 Highpoint 90 - - - 33 - - - 267 
			 Hindley 70 - - 8 - - - - 138 
			 Hollesley Bay - - - - 24 - - - 144 
			 Holloway - - - - - - 47 - 177 
			 Holme House 50 - - - - - - - 235 
			 Hull 120 - - - - - 6 - 303 
			 Kingston - - - 16 - - - - 40 
			 Kirkham - - - - - - - - 96 
			 Lancaster Castle - - - - - - - - 136 
			 Lancaster Farms 80 - - - - - - - 150 
			 Leeds - - - - - - - - 120 
			 Leicester - - - - - - - - 120 
			 Lewes 29 - - - - - - - 125 
			 Leyhill 39 - - - 29 - - - 92 
			 Lincoln - - - - - - - - 122 
			 Lindholme 70 - 20 - - - - - 234 
			 Littlehey 90 - - - - - - - 192 
			 Liverpool 60 - - - - - - - 132 
			 Long Lartin 30 - - 40 - 7 - - 93 
			 Low Newton 39 - - - - - 62 - 151 
			 Lowdham Grange 100 - - 40 - - - - 140 
			 Maidstone 100 - - - - - - - 222 
			 Manchester 60 16 - - - - - - 93 
			 Moorland 70 - - 24 - - - - 129 
			 Mount - - - - - - - - 102 
			 New Hall 20 - 20 - - - 35 - 162 
			 North Sea Camp - - - - - - - - 101 
			 Northallerton - - - - - - - - 100 
			 Norwich 76 - - - - - - - 136 
			 Nottingham - - - - - - - - 120 
			 Onley 70 - - - - - - - 162 
			 Parc 40 - - - - - 81 - 240 
			 Parkhurst 89 - - 24 - - - - 113 
			 Pentonville 140 - - 48 - - - - 404 
			 Peterborough 68 - 9 - - - - - 197 
			 Portland 81 - - 8 - - - - 169 
			 Preston 70 - - - - - - - 214 
			 Ranby 100 - - - - - - - 196 
			 Reading 49 - - - - - - - 129 
			 Risley 100 - 20 40 - - - - 341 
			 Rochester - - - - - - - - 80 
			 Rye Hill 90 - - - - - - - 90 
			 Ryehill - - - - - - - - 26 
			 Send 30 - - - - - - - 86 
			 Shepton Mallet 20 - - - 25 - - - 71 
			 Stafford 100 - - - 19 - - - 267 
			 Standford Hill - - - - 10 - - - 10 
			 Stocken 91 8 - 32 - - - - 227 
			 Stoke Heath 62 - - - - - - - 142 
			 Styal 40 - - - - - - - 299 
			 Sudbury 10 - - - 30 - - - 40 
			 Swaleside 140 - - 32 30 - - - 295 
			 Swansea 30 - - - - - - - 150 
			 Swinfen Hall 129 - - 40 38 - - - 333 
			 The Mount 60 - - 16 - - - - 76 
			 The Verne 70 - - 16 - - - - 86 
			 Thorn Cross 89 - - - - - - - 187 
			 Usk 60 - - - - - - - 87 
			 Wakefield 62 - - - - - - - 119 
			 Wandsworth 90 - - - - - - - 283 
			 Warren Hill 48 - - - - - - - 48 
			 Wayland 130 - - - 9 - - - 278 
			 Wealstun 39 - 30 - - - - - 213 
			 Wellingborough 90 - - - - - - - 192 
			 Wetherby 40 - - - - - - - 40 
			 Whatton 110 16 - 23 30 - - - 383 
			 Whitemoor 40 - - 40 - - - - 90 
			 Winchester - - - - - - - - 192 
			 Wolds 30 - - 24 32 - - - 86 
			 Woodhill 59 - - - - - - - 59 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 59 - - - - - - - 357 
			 Wymott 150 - - - 20 - - - 283 
			 Grand total 6,269 96 145 742 401 23 231 57 20,032 
			  Key: STOP-Substance Treatment and Offending Programme SDP-Short Duration Programme PASRO-Prison Addressing Substance Related Offending ADTP-Alcohol Dependency Treatment Programme TC-Therapeutic Community FOCUS-A Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) programme (High Security estate only) ARV-Alcohol Related Violence (formerly Alcohol Free Good Lives programme) BLB-Better Lives Booster HSF-Healthy Sexual Functioning ETS-Enhanced Thinking Skills HRP-Healthy Relationships Programme TSP-Thinking Skills Programme CALM-Controlling Anger and Learning to Manage it Booster-Cognitive Skills Booster CSCP-Cognitive Self Change Programme FOR-motivational resettlement programme Chromis-programme for offenders with psychopathic traits

Prisoners: Training

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what percentage of the prison population undertakes employment-related activities; whether he has made a recent estimate of the annual average number of hours spent by prisoners on such activities; and what recent assessment he has made of the merits of such activities.

Maria Eagle: In 2008-09 an average of 13.36 hours per prisoner per week were spent on employment-related activities.
	It is not possible to provide figures for the percentage of the population that takes part in employment-related activities. This is because the regimes monitoring database records activities in hours and does not allow those activities to be broken down by individual prisoner.
	Increasing offender employment rates is critical to our strategy to increase social inclusion and reduce reoffending. A key aim is to provide prisoners with employment skills, experience and motivation so they become productive members of society. A survey from 2008 of prisoners' own perception of need(1) found that most said they needed help with finding employment (48 per cent.), getting qualifications (42 per cent.) and work-related skills (41 per cent.) ahead of other help or interventions such as finding accommodation (37 per cent.), offending behaviour (34 per cent.) and drug problems (29 per cent.).
	(1) Source:
	MOJ Research Series 16/08: 'The problems and needs of newly sentenced prisoners: results from a national survey'

Alcoholic Drinks: Prices

Don Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent steps his Department has taken to seek to reduce the availability of cheap alcoholic drinks;
	(2)  what research his Department has undertaken on the likely effects on the level of alcohol consumption of a minimum unit price for alcohol in the last 10 years;
	(3)  what recent discussions he has had with the Chief Medical Officer on restrictions on the price of alcohol.

Gillian Merron: In December 2008, the Department published an independent review on the effects of alcohol pricing and promotion from the School of Health and Related Research at the University of Sheffield. This included looking at the effects of minimum unit price on consumption
	A copy of the publication Independent review of the effects of alcohol pricing and promotion from the School of Health and Related Research at the University of Sheffield has already been placed in the Library.
	The Government recently completed a public consultation on the content of a new mandatory code of practice for alcohol retailers. The consultation includes proposals to tackle irresponsible promotions in the on-trade and in the off-trade explores the principle of prohibiting retailers from offering alcohol for sale at prices below the rate of duty and VAT paid on the product, a form of loss leader.
	In the consultation, the Department also committed to do further work on the impact of alcohol price and promotions and in particular look into certain key evidence gaps.
	All responses will be independently analysed and a report of the consultation and the Government's response will follow in due course.
	The chief medical officer regularly meets with Ministers from the Department on a number of policy issues, including alcohol.

Blood: Donors

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of people were on the  (a) blood donor and  (b) bone marrow donor register in each register area in each of the last 10 years.

Gillian Merron: The following table shows the total number of blood donors recorded in June of the last eight calendar years, broken down by region into the north (incorporating North Wales); south-east; and south-west; and the percentage of blood donors as a proportion of the total population of England. 2001 is the earliest year for which complete data are available, as before then data was not collated centrally.
	
		
			   Number  of blood donors
			   N orth  S outh  W est  S outh  E ast  Total blood donors  Population (million, England)  Blood donors-percentage of population 
			 2001 677,554 517,873 619,911 1,815,338 49.1 3.7 
			 2002 665,724 509,497 614,398 1,789,619 49.7 3.6 
			 2003 602,121 492,519 588,549 1,683,189 49.9 3.4 
			 2004 581,113 472,720 553,801 1,607,634 50.1 3.2 
			 2005 584,661 474,457 537,951 1,597,069 50.5 3.2 
			 2006 541,098 440,019 499,681 1,480,798 50.8 2.9 
			 2007 511,800 418,225 462,059 1,392,084 51.1 2.7 
			 2008 514,983 430,107 466,807 1,411,897 51.5 2.7 
			 2009 512,031 448,647 449,028 1,409,706 51.7 2.7 
		
	
	The corresponding figures for people on the bone marrow registry is not currently collated centrally. However the NHS Blood and Transplant is currently in the process of migrating these data to a central system and a copy of these figures will be placed in the Library.

Bone Marrow Disorders: Donors

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with the devolved administrations on increasing the number of bone marrow donors.

Gillian Merron: NHS Blood and Transplant, as the special health authority with responsibility for ensuring the supply of blood, organs, stem cells and tissues for patients holds regular meetings with its counterparts from across the UK where all issues on donation and collection are discussed.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not held any meetings with the devolved administrations on increasing the number of bone marrow donors.

Exercise

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent estimate has been made of the percentage of  (a) men and  (b) women aged (i) 18 to 25, (ii) 26 to 49, (iii) 50 to 69 and (iv) over 70 years old who undertake recommended levels of physical activity; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: Health Survey for England last measured the percentage of men and women meeting the Chief Medical Officer's recommendations on physical activity, broken down by age and gender in 2008, which will be published on 17 December 2009. Prior to this report from 2006 survey has set out similar data and a copy of the report/data has already been placed in the Library.

Heart Diseases: Health Services

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department plans to take in response to the National Specialist Commissioning Group's document for designation of Grown-Ups with Congenital Heart Disease Specialist Centres; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: Designation of specialised services such as services for Grown Ups with Congenital Heart Disease is a formal process of checking that service providers meet certain standards and that services are able to meet demand and to deliver the best possible outcomes for patients and are good value for money. The service specification standards included in the Grown Up with Congenital Heart Disease designation document have been drawn up to assist this process by providing a common set of criteria against which services can be assessed. It is the responsibility of the 10 Specialised Commissioning Groups in England working on behalf of their constituent primary care trusts to decide on the relative priority of work on the specialised services within their designation programmes.

Hospitals: Manpower

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent  (a) managers and  (b) senior managers were in post at each hospital in the North West in each of the last five years.

Ann Keen: The information is not available in the format requested. Non-medical workforce census data is collected by trust, so hospital level data is not available. The information that is available is shown in the following tables:
	
		
			  National Health Service Hospital and Community Health Services: Senior Managers and Managers in the North West Strategic Health Authority (SHA) area by organisation as at 30 September: Each year (as full time equivalents) 
			   2004  2005  2006 
			   All managers  Senior managers  Managers  All managers  Senior managers  Managers  All managers  Senior managers  Managers 
			 North West SHA area 4,358 1,709 2,649 4,522 1,527 2,995 4,345 1,514 2,831 
			 Five Boroughs Partnership National Health Service Trust 75 54 21 78 58 21 81 21 60 
			 Aintree Hospitals NHS Trust 71 36 35 76 17 58 81 17 64 
			 Ashton, Leigh and Wigan Primary Care Trust (PCT) 58 19 39 53 33 20 52 33 20 
			 Blackburn with Darwen PCT 24 10 15 24 10 15 30 12 18 
			 Blackpool PCT 31 4 27 39 5 34 19 5 14 
			 Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Hospitals NHS Trust 100 46 54 97 39 58 94 36 58 
			 Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust 50 10 40 55 19 36 48 21 27 
			 Bolton PCT 64 48 16 60 8 53 62 7 55 
			 Bolton, Salford and Trafford Mental Health NHS Trust 72 42 30 69 46 23 70 49 21 
			 Bury PCT 30 30 0 35 35 0 45 41 4 
			 Calderstones NHS Trust 34 27 7 33 17 16 29 16 14 
			 Central and Eastern Cheshire PCT 74 34 41 104 56 48 92 20 72 
			 Central Lancashire PCT 118 38 80 110 29 81 94 30 64 
			 Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals NHS Trust 68 25 43 74 27 47 80 28 52 
			 Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Trust 41 13 28 41 9 32 37 10 27 
			 Christie Hospital NHS Trust 53 45 8 16 3 13 16 3 13 
			 Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology NHS Trust 23 19 4 26 20 6 13 11 2 
			 Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 72 23 49 78 19 60 72 26 46 
			 Cumbria PCT 144 52 92 88 21 67 73 17 56 
			 East Cheshire NHS Trust 28 19 9 51 9 42 53 8 45 
			 East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust 98 58 40 100 62 37 99 62 37 
			 East Lancashire PCT 42 21 21 43 23 20 51 22 29 
			 Halton and St Helens PCT 70 24 45 63 24 40 69 28 41 
			 Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale PCT 38 27 11 44 14 30 40 20 20 
			 Knowsley PCT 29 4 25 39 7 32 43 4 40 
			 Lancashire Care NHS Trust 55 48 7 46 3 43 75 25 50 
			 Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 109 12 96 126 7 119 122 8 114 
			 Liverpool PCT 155 64 91 201 74 127 191 57 133 
			 Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust 24 8 16 18 3 15 32 18 14 
			 Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust 52 37 15 57 41 16 55 40 15 
			 Manchester PCT 149 17 133 216 25 192 196 70 126 
			 Mersey Care NHS Trust 121 19 102 99 46 53 84 39 46 
			 Morecambe Bay Hospitals NHS Trust 123 70 53 132 78 54 117 57 60 
			 North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust 87 6 81 77 4 73 72 4 69 
			 North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 52 14 38 61 24 37 63 29 34 
			 North Cumbria Mental Health and Learning Disabilities NHS Trust 25 15 10 25 12 13 28 13 15 
			 North Lancashire PCT 62 13 49 48 9 39 69 14 55 
			 North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust 135 41 94 200 72 128 240 90 150 
			 North West SHA 230 56 174 243 52 191 185 52 133 
			 Oldham PCT 32 5 27 36 5 31 34 5 29 
			 Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 120 34 86 125 32 93 131 31 100 
			 Pennine Care NHS Trust 42 15 27 45 13 33 48 15 34 
			 Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust 119 39 80 128 44 84 136 65 71 
			 Royal Liverpool Children's' Hospital NHS Trust 52 20 32 58 24 34 53 20 33 
			 Salford PCT 111 27 84 127 21 106 109 20 89 
			 Salford Royal Hospitals NHS Trust 79 32 47 54 24 30 56 22 34 
			 Sefton PCT 61 28 33 94 10 84 26 9 17 
			 South Manchester University Hospitals NHS Trust 59 17 42 64 20 44 56 9 47 
			 Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust 26 8 18 25 8 17 23 13 10 
			 St. Helens and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust 43 24 19 50 24 26 51 20 31 
			 Stockport NHS Trust 57 19 38 61 20 40 58 19 38 
			 Stockport PCT 55 38 17 30 5 25 38 8 30 
			 Tameside and Glossop Acute Services NHS Trust 42 7 35 41 7 34 24 7 17 
			 Tameside and Glossop PCT 60 25 36 68 28 40 58 22 35 
			 The Cardiothoracic Centre - Liverpool NHS Trust 28 28 0 20 6 15 27 8 19 
			 The Mid Cheshire Hospital NHS Trust 51 30 21 50 30 20 43 25 17 
			 The Wirral Hospital NHS Trust 48 24 24 48 24 24 49 25 24 
			 Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust 43 15 28 34 12 23 30 9 21 
			 Trafford PCT 50 8 42 47 9 38 61 10 51 
			 Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery NHS Trust 36 20 16 33 14 19 35 19 16 
			 Warrington PCT 36 24 12 40 23 17 36 11 25 
			 West Cheshire PCT 62 24 39 67 25 42 49 17 32 
			 Wirral PCT 86 25 61 65 14 51 71 13 58 
			 Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust 73 28 45 64 27 36 71 30 42 
		
	
	
		
			   2007  2008 
			   All managers  Senior managers  Managers  All managers  Senior managers  Managers 
			 North West SHA area 4,596 1,598 2,998 5,164 1,793 3,371 
			 Five Boroughs Partnership National Health Service Trust 72 23 49 70 22 47 
			 Aintree Hospitals NHS Trust 84 19 65 96 27 69 
			 Ashton, Leigh and Wigan Primary Care Trust (PCT) 65 36 30 94 66 28 
			 Blackburn with Darwen PCT 92 11 81 103 14 89 
			 Blackpool PCT 27 7 20 35 5 30 
			 Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Hospitals NHS Trust 94 29 66 90 9 81 
			 Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust 44 6 38 48 11 37 
			 Bolton PCT 55 7 48 61 11 50 
			 Bolton, Salford and Trafford Mental Health NHS Trust 86 48 37 94 52 41 
			 Bury PCT 52 45 7 73 61 11 
			 Calderstones NHS Trust 32 18 14 32 17 15 
			 Central and Eastern Cheshire PCT 75 19 56 92 18 74 
			 Central Lancashire PCT 153 40 113 160 45 115 
			 Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals NHS Trust 90 29 61 240 58 181 
			 Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Trust 33 12 21 37 13 24 
			 Christie Hospital NHS Trust 69 20 50 22 5 17 
			 Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology NHS Trust 11 9 2 34 17 17 
			 Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 66 21 44 65 19 46 
			 Cumbria PCT 73 29 44 83 48 35 
			 East Cheshire NHS Trust 49 9 40 47 8 40 
			 East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust 103 44 59 100 56 44 
			 East Lancashire PCT 89 37 52 37 21 17 
			 Halton and St Helens PCT 36 12 24 47 20 28 
			 Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale PCT 44 7 37 78 21 57 
			 Knowsley PCT 47 6 41 51 18 33 
			 Lancashire Care NHS Trust 80 36 43 87 38 50 
			 Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 78 14 64 86 18 68 
			 Liverpool PCT 193 40 152 235 77 158 
			 Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust 34 19 15 33 16 17 
			 Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust 42 41 1 46 40 5 
			 Manchester PCT 161 36 124 180 46 134 
			 Mersey Care NHS Trust 63 32 31 70 33 37 
			 Morecambe Bay Hospitals NHS Trust 115 35 80 113 30 83 
			 North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust 74 10 64 73 10 63 
			 North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 88 42 45 93 46 47 
			 North Cumbria Mental Health and Learning Disabilities NHS Trust 31 19 12 35 23 11 
			 North Lancashire PCT 62 9 53 83 4 79 
			 North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust 230 75 155 221 74 146 
			 North West SHA 154 106 48 178 98 80 
			 Oldham PCT 33 5 28 42 18 24 
			 Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 123 34 89 130 26 104 
			 Pennine Care NHS Trust 48 13 35 48 12 JO 
			 Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust 215 87 128 217 94 123 
			 Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital NHS Trust 54 22 32 56 21 35 
			 Salford PCT 112 22 90 127 25 102 
			 Salford Royal Hospitals NHS Trust 60 21 39 61 19 42 
			 Sefton PCT 26 7 19 25 8 17 
			 South Manchester University Hospitals NHS Trust 67 18 49 74 18 56 
			 Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust 20 11 9 25 7 IS 
			 St. Helens and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust 54 21 33 53 23 30 
			 Stockport NHS Trust 65 21 44 75 20 54 
			 Stockport PCT 50 18 32 51 30 20 
			 Tameside and Glossop Acute Services NHS Trust 51 15 36 52 17 35 
			 Tameside and Glossop PCT 70 37 34 89 32 57 
			 The Cardiothoracic Centre - Liverpool NHS Trust 24 15 8 30 16 14 
			 The Mid Cheshire Hospital NHS Trust 69 34 36 71 31 40 
			 The Wirral Hospital NHS Trust 51 27 24 65 35 30 
			 Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust 28 9 19 45 23 22 
			 Trafford PCT 48 13 35 72 16 56 
			 Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery NHS Trust 30 18 11 28 14 13 
			 Warrington PCT 34 5 29 45 7 38 
			 West Cheshire PCT 49 24 26 61 22 39 
			 Wirral PCT 90 8 82 119 18 101 
			 Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust 79 37 43 84 26 58 
			  Notes: 1. PCTs, SHAs and ambulance trusts have been mapped to their current organisational structure. 2. Full time equivalent figures are rounded to the nearest whole number.  Source: The Information Centre for health and social care.

Hospitals: South East

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many redundancies there were in each hospital trust in the South East in each of the last 12 months.

Gillian Merron: Monthly redundancy figures for individual trusts are not held centrally. Quarterly compulsory redundancy figures for individual strategic health authorities (SHAs) are held centrally. The figures for the two SHAs in the South East region for the last four quarters are as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			  Total for quarter 2 2009-10  
			 South Central (SC) SHA 9 
			 South East Coast (SEC) SHA 7 
			 Total 16 
			   
			  Totals for quarter 1 2009-10  
			 SCSHA 18 
			 SEC SHA 23 
			 Total 41 
			   
			  Totals for quarter 4 2008-09  
			 SCSHA 23 
			 SEC SHA 20 
			 Total 43 
			   
			  Totals for quarter 3 2008-09  
			 SCSHA 13 
			 SEC SHA 1 
			 Total 14 
		
	
	From 2009-10 foundation trust data is no longer centrally collected. In previous years their returns were voluntary.

Influenza: Stockport

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) hospitalisations and  (b) deaths in the Stockport Primary Care Trust area related to (i) swine influenza and (ii) seasonal influenza there were in the 12 months to 1 December 2009.

Gillian Merron: The swine flu hospital data collected by the Department is not broken down by primary care trust (PCT). It is collated for acute trusts rather than PCT areas so precise figures for Stockport PCT are not available.
	The data collected shows that Stockport NHS Foundation Trust has reported 108 patients were admitted with H1N1 swine flu (swabbed or clinically presumed) between 6 July and 1 December 2009. Data on hospital admissions related to swine flu was not collected prior to 6 July. The above figures include all patients reported by the hospital regardless of where they are resident, so may include non-Stockport residents. The figure will not include any residents of the Stockport PCT area who have been admitted to other hospitals with swine flu.
	The Department can not release a breakdown of swine flu related deaths in individual PCTs as to do so could breach the confidentiality of patients and their relatives. Details of these deaths were supplied in strict confidence.
	The Department does not collect data on seasonal flu hospitalisations and deaths.

Social Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to table 2 of the Impact Assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill, what methodology was used to calculate the additional costs; and whether the figures given for additional costs relate to millions of pounds.

Phil Hope: The estimated additional costs for older people are based on analyses from the Personal Social Services Research Unit's (PSSRU) micro-simulation model for older people. The PSSRU cost estimates are broken down into groups of individuals with difficulty with different total numbers of activities of daily living (ADLs) on the basis of the average predicted need for each group-as referred to in table 1 of the impact assessment.
	The additional categories not considered by PSSRU-that is, the estimates of residential care and informal care switchers-are then added. All of the residential care switchers are assumed to have difficulty with four or more ADLs.

Social Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to table 2 of the Impact Assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill, from what source he derived the number of younger adults described as  (a) already receiving state-funded care and  (b) self-funding plus unmet need.

Phil Hope: The estimate of 110,000 younger adults eligible for free personal care at home is based principally on the referrals, assessments and packages of care (RAP) data from councils for 2007-08. In the absence of data on the proportion of younger service users whose needs are assessed as critical under fair access to care services (FACS) critical, for the purposes of the impact assessment, it is assumed that there could be some 100,000 younger adult local authority funded users receiving personal care in the critical category. It is likely that most of these receive their care free, as their incomes are generally low. It has therefore been assumed that 90 per cent. already receive free personal care at home and that 10 per cent. make a means-tested contribution towards the cost.
	Little is known about the number of younger adults who currently fund their own care at home. It has been assumed that around a further 10,000 younger adults may be brought under state funding following the introduction of the Personal Care at Home Bill.
	The figures have been rounded to the nearest 10,000 to reflect the uncertainty. The figure of 110,000 should therefore be treated as an estimate.

Social Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to table 2 of the Impact Assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill, from what source the costs referred to in bullet 4 of Annex A were derived.

Phil Hope: Annex A sets out the assumptions on which the analysis is based. Bullet 4 explains that, in the absence of data giving the relationship between costs and average predicted need, the assumption has been made that the relationship is linear, i.e. that twice the predicted need score on this measure is equivalent to twice the weekly care costs.

Social Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the Impact Assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill; whether reablement packages will cover the costs of  (a) hardware and  (b) labour.

Phil Hope: We understand that there is a great deal of variability in both the costs of reablement across councils and the different types of services which may be available in particular localities. In our consultation, Personal Care at Home: a consultation on proposals for regulations and guidance, a copy of which has already been placed in the Library, we suggest that a reablement package could include physiotherapy, occupational therapy, installation of telecare or adaptations to the house. The £1,000 per person figure referred to is based on an estimate of 30 hours of care at £30 an hour and an allowance for some equipment. The precise nature of any package would be a matter for local decision, based on an assessment of the person's needs.

Social Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to paragraph 1.6 of the Impact Assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill, in what circumstances the Government provides social care where private insurance cover has proved inadequate.

Phil Hope: Councils currently assess needs and means in reaching decisions on whether or not to provide state funded social care. For people with high needs who are not eligible on the grounds of means, the lack of a private insurance market has meant they may have already incurred significant costs in meeting their own care needs. As part of plans for a national care service, we have been considering a number of proposals which include insurance schemes, so that people with high care needs will not find themselves faced with unexpected care costs.

Social Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to paragraph 2.2 of the Impact Assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill, what estimate he has made of the amount of funding referred to.

Phil Hope: No estimate has been made on future investment in social care. However, we know that, in order to ensure that a new care and support system is affordable, we will need to be prepared to take tough decisions to ensure that existing resources are targeted on those who need them the most. But we know that the money already in the system will not be enough.
	In 20 years' time, we expect there to be 1.7 million more adults needing care and support than there are now and proportionately fewer people of working age to help pay for the funding of that care and support. We will not be able to pay for the care that is needed simply by reprioritising the money we already have. As a society, we are going to have to spend more on care and support if we are to maintain a care and support system that gives older people and disabled people quality of life, dignity and peace of mind about their future care costs.

Social Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to paragraph 2.2 of the Impact Assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill, for what reasons the proposal was not included in the Green Paper.

Phil Hope: Free personal care for those with the highest needs in their own home was not considered in the Green Paper because it is a step towards that National Care Service. The Green Paper puts forward fundamental proposals-partnership, insurance and comprehensive-for the National Care Service to reform the system for all adults.
	Proposals for reablement put forward in the impact assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill were also considered as part of the Green Paper.

Social Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the checklist of impact tests in the Impact Assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill, whether the results of the human rights impact test have been published.

Phil Hope: I sent a memorandum to my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon and Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights (Mr. Dismore), on 27 November 2009. The memorandum details the human rights implications of the Personal Care at Home Bill. A copy has been placed in the Library.

Social Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the Impact Assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill, what the  (a) net benefit and  (b) net benefit range associated with his legislative proposals is.

Phil Hope: The impact assessment has not attempted to specify the net benefit or a net benefit range owing to uncertainty in estimating a number of specific benefits, that is, the benefits from meeting unmet need, re-ablement and reducing the savings disincentive. This notwithstanding, the areas in which benefits have been quantified, namely those people in highest need who will receive free personal care at home, equity distribution and the extended insurance coverage, justify the proposed policy on cost-benefit grounds.

Social Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the Impact Assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill, what plans he has for meeting transition costs.

Phil Hope: A one-off transition cost of £335 million is set out in the impact assessment for the first half-year of the policy, from October 2010. Thereafter, we do not consider that there will be transition costs associated with this for local authorities. However, we will be reviewing the impact of the policy after 12-18 months to ensure that it is being applied properly and that there are no unforeseen costs or perverse incentives.

Swine Flu: Vaccination

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the number of people to whom it plans to offer the swine influenza vaccination  (a) in the Stockport Primary Care Trust area and  (b) nationally.

Gillian Merron: The estimated number of people in the Stockport Primary Care Trust area who fall into a priority group for H1N1 influenza vaccination is about 55,000. There are an estimated 15,000 children aged over six months and under five years that would fall into the extended H1N1 vaccination programme.
	The estimated number of people in England who fall into a priority group for H1N1 influenza vaccination is about 9.5 million. The estimated number of children in England who fall into the group aged over six months and under five years is about 2.75 million.
	Health care workers involved in direct patient care can also receive the H1N1 vaccine. This applies to about one million individuals in England. There are an estimated 4,000 people who fall into this category working in Stockport national health service trusts.

Building Colleges for the Future Programme

David Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with further education college principals about the Building Colleges for the Future programme.

Kevin Brennan: I have regular meetings with the Association of Colleges and individual college principles. Additionally, in line with Sir Andrew Foster's recommendations, a FE Reference Panel on Capital was established in collaboration with the Association of Colleges (AOC). Through this panel, the Government have consulted with the sector about the recent prioritisation exercise and on the future of the FE Capital programme. The reference panel last met on the 28 October and will continue to meet on a regular basis.

Departmental Working Hours

Andrew Selous: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many and what percentage of staff of his Department, its executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies work flexibly or part-time; and what his Department's policy is on making jobs available on a job-share or flexible basis;
	(2)  when he will respond to question 301335, tabled by the hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire on 19 November 2009, on departmental working practices.

Patrick McFadden: Currently, there are 416 staff in Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) who have chosen to work part-time which represents 10.8 per cent. of staff.
	The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was created in June from the former Department for Innovation for Universities and Skills (DIUS) and former Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR). Workforce data is currently being amalgamated. We do not have full flexible working data for former DIUS, but for former BERR it is estimated that 1309 members of staff work flexibly, representing 42.8 per cent. of former BERR staff.
	This information does not include executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies. Chief executives of our executive agencies will respond to you directly. The Department offers a wide range of flexible working options to support our staff such as part-time working, home working, condensed hours, flexi-time and annualised hours. The Remote computer access and remote telephony options are also available to staff, to help them to work flexibly.
	Job-sharing is a way of widening the talent pool and recruiting the best staff. In BIS, we held a job-share and part-time workshop in July, to encourage more managers and staff to consider job share or part-time arrangements. The workshop was attended by over sixty managers and staff. We also highlighted the Cabinet Office job share website:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/news/2009/june/job-share.aspx
	We continue to promote job-sharing and job vacancies must explicitly address the scope for flexible working opportunities in posts and state that applications are welcomed from candidates with part-time, job-share or other flexible working arrangements.
	 Letter from Stephen Speed, dated 9( th) December 2009:
	The Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has asked me to reply to your question how many and what percentage of staff of his Department, its executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies work flexibly or part-time; and what his Department's policy is on making jobs available on a job-share or flexible basis.
	As at 19/11/2009, we have the following numbers of staff who are working flexible working patterns:
	
		
			  Working pattern  Number of employees 
			 Flexible working scheme 575 
			 Compressed hours 52 
			 Part-time working 417 
			 Home working 26 
			 Remote working 2 
		
	
	We also offer our staff flexi-time, but we do not record centrally the numbers of staff that use this working pattern. We also do not hold records centrally of the number of staff that job share. Job sharers are included in the table as part-time workers.
	 Recruitment Policy for Flexible Working
	The Insolvency Service strongly encourages opportunities for part-time, job share and other flexible working arrangements. When advertising posts, recruiting managers are not able to specify a specific working pattern e.g. full-time, part-time etc, unless a business case has been made through a relevant Director, and agreed by Human Resources. Applicants are not required to indicate their current or proposed working pattern. It is only at the point where an applicant is contacted to be offered the job that a recruiting manager will discuss with the applicant the proposed working pattern.
	Recruiting managers are encouraged to accommodate all working patterns, but where there is any doubt on whether a working pattern can be accommodated, the applicant needs to discuss the proposals with their line-manager to establish what options are available to accommodate the pattern. Where the pattern cannot be accommodated, the recruiting manager provides the applicant with written objective justification for the decision.
	 Letter from Peter Mason, dated 26 November 2009:
	I am responding in respect of the National Measurement Office (formerly National Weights and Measures Laboratory) to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 19/11/2009 [reference 301335 ] to the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, asking how many and what percentage of staff of his Department, its executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies work flexibly or part-time.
	The National Measurement Office employs 65 members of staff, of whom 9 (13.9%) work part time and 5 (7.7%) have a home working contract. Statutory provisions have been extended to all staff in line with our equality policy and all staff have access to flexitime working and other flexible working patterns. When posts are advertised each one is considered for various flexible working arrangements according to the business needs of the Agency.
	 Letter from Sean Dennehey, dated 24 November 2009:
	I am responding in respect of the Intellectual Property Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled 19 November 2009, to the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The Intellectual Property Office (IPO), an Executive Agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, currently has 153 part-time staff, representing 17% of its workforce. The IPO has 72 staff who work from home (representing 8% of the workforce) of which, 17 are part-time.
	Other forms of flexible working are available to all IPO staff, including annualised hours, term-time working, job-sharing and compressed hours. Staff are able to manage their work-life balance effectively on a daily basis within a normal bandwidth of 7am to 7pm.
	The IPO's flexible working policy is published to all staff via its intranet and sets out its commitment to providing the widest possible range of working patterns for staff. Applications to work flexibly are invited from staff and considered on an individual basis. All vacancies are advertised as open to job share and part-time working.
	 Letter from Tim Moss, dated December 2009:
	I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled 19 November 2009, UIN 301335, to the Minister of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The majority of Companies House staff work their contracted hours through a flexi system which means they can work flexibly around core hours. 313 members of staff, equating to 26.7% of the workforce, work on a part-time basis.
	All jobs are available on a job share or part-time basis.

Departmental Written Questions

John Mason: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many questions tabled for answer on a named day his Department received in each of the last 12 months; and to how many such questions his Department provided a substantive answer on the day named.

Patrick McFadden: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (and the previous Departments for Innovation, Universities and Skills and Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) received a total of 944 named day parliamentary question during the fourth session of Parliament. A total of 231 questions received a substantive reply on the day requested. The Department aims to provide information to Members accurately and wherever possible on time and notes the Government Response to the House of Commons Procedure Committee's Third Report, published on 7 December 2009 [HC129].
	Following the merger of the two Departments in June 2009; the Business, Innovation and Skills parliamentary unit was restructured and the figures for September to November (which form part of the figures indicated above) were 205 tabled named day parliamentary questions of which 122 received a substantive answer on the date specified.

Electric Vehicles

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what funding his Department has allocated for the purpose of developing electric cars in the last 12 months.

Ian Lucas: The Department is supporting the development of electric vehicles through a number of measures including the Technology Strategy Board led Low Carbon Vehicle Innovation Platform, worth approximately £150 million of public sector support; the work of the Research Councils and Energy Technologies Institute; and the Automotive Assistance Programme.
	In the last year, the Technology Strategy Board's Innovation Platform has resulted in support for:
	A £50 million Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator Programme (with public sector funding of £25 million, announced in 2008 and launched in June 2009), which will see more than 340 vehicles being trialled in several UK regions, managed through eight industry-led consortiums, within the next six to eighteen months-the biggest project of its kind in the world.
	The development of an all-electric urban car with the provision of grant funding of £4.5 million for a £9 million project led by Gordon Murray Design, which will develop four prototypes of the vehicle by February 2011.
	10 innovative research projects through a £10m investment in business led collaborative R and D projects that will lead to the development of cutting-edge ultra efficient electrical systems for electric and hybrid vehicles, and
	A number of collaborative R and D projects, which were allocated funding in prior years, but where spend has continued this year as the projects are typically of three to four years duration.
	The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has committed £1.5 million to projects commencing in 2009 relating to the development of electric vehicles. This brings their current portfolio of projects to £9.22 million in total. In addition, EPSRC supports a broader range of underpinning research into fuel cells, energy storage and networks and grids.
	In July, the Energy Technologies Institute announced it would be committing £3 million to the first stage of a project to provide an evaluation of the consumer response to plug-in vehicles and the supporting infrastructure.
	In September, the Department also announced an offer of a £10 million loan to Tata Motors European Technical Centre to support £2 5 million of investment to develop and manufacture electric vehicles in Coventry. Although the company has now secured alternative funding, it has voiced its appreciation for the offer under the Automotive Assistance Programme and the Government remain ready to support the company should it require it.

Further Education: Finance

David Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent estimate he has made of the financial losses experienced by further education colleges in the last 12 months which have not received capital funding from the Building Colleges for the Future programme.

Kevin Brennan: We are not able to provide this information as colleges are not due to submit audited accounts for 2008-09 until the end of the calendar year, which will then be reviewed by the LSC.
	The LSC has an existing process in place for dealing with colleges that experience financial difficulties and is committed to ensuring that no college gets into financial difficulty as a result of the Building Colleges for the Future Programme.

Investors in People

John Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the effects on the economy of the Investors in People scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: The Department has made no direct assessment of the impact of the Investors in People Framework on the economy. However, IiP UK has itself regularly commissioned research into the benefits of IiP.
	Details of recent research is available on the IiP UK website and a copy will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

National Star College: Finance

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills when he expects a decision to be taken on funding for the development of the National Star College; and if he will take steps to ensure that funding is provided for the development of the college planned before the capital expenditure programme of the Learning and Skills Council was put on hold.

Kevin Brennan: Under the Learning and Skills Act 2000, Ministers may not direct the LSC in its decision making regards individual capital approvals.
	However, I met with the Principal of National Star on 9 July and agreed to ask the LSC to explore potential options for the college to move forward. This work continues and I can confirm that for the future capital programme, the LSC is working with the AOC College Reference Panel to consider how to prioritise future investment.

Unemployment

John Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the proportion of those not in employment, education or training who were unskilled in each of the last 18 months.

Kevin Brennan: The following table gives the proportion of people aged(1) 18 to 24 in England not in employment, education or training (NEET) who do not hold a level 2 qualification in each quarter during the last 18 months. Monthly estimates are not available as the Labour Force Survey, from which this information is produced, is run on a quarterly basis.
	
		
			  Proportion of 18 to 24-year-olds in England whose highest qualification is below level 2 or have no qualifications. 
			   Percentage of 18 to 24 year olds NEET not qualified to level 2  Percentage of all 18 to 24 year olds not qualified to level 2 
			 Q2 2008 55.1 26.0 
			 Q3 2008 52.2 26.3 
			 Q4 2008 55.6 26.1 
			 Q1 2009 55.0 25.7 
			 Q2 2009 50.0 24.8 
			 Q3 2009 46.3 24.4 
			 (1) Age used is the respondents' academic age, which is defined as their age at the preceding 31 August.  Source: Labour Force Survey  Base: 18 to 24-year-olds (academic age), England

Unemployment: Milton Keynes

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of people in Milton Keynes aged  (a) 16 to 18 and  (b) 19 to 24 years were not in education, training or employment in each quarter of the last 10 years.

Iain Wright: I have been asked to reply.
	Estimates of participation in education, training and employment for those aged 16 to 18 are published by the Department in a Statistical First Release (SFR) each June and can be found on the Department's website at
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000792/index.shtml
	These estimates cannot be broken down to local authority level. However, Connexions Services collect information on the number and proportion of 16 to 18-year-olds NEET in each local authority area. Figures for Milton Keynes are shown below. Figures for Milton Keynes are not available prior to 2006.
	
		
			  16 to 18-year-olds NEET in Milton Keynes (Connexions estimates) 
			   Proportion (percentage) 
			 2006 6.5 
			 2007 5.8 
			 2008 5.9 
		
	
	Equivalent information is not available for 18 to 24-year-olds.
	We are making all 16 and 17-year-olds an offer of suitable place in learning through the September Guarantee. The Department has asked local authorities to focus in particular on those who are disengaged from education or missing school. The 14 to 19 curriculum reforms are creating a range of different learning opportunities suit all young people, including those who need help to re-engage in learning. Connexions services provide tailored support and advice, both on accessing education, employment or training, and on personal issues.
	My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced on 18 November plans to guarantee an offer of an Entry to Employment place to any 16 and 17-year-old who is not in education, employment or training (NEET) in January 2010. This will give those who were not ready to engage in learning in September, or who have since left, a further opportunity to get the skills they need to succeed.